Sketches, legal and political

BBIiHHIl

* -' " ^ - XVt - T ^*h l - I ^- l *T

(SKETCHES,
LEGAL AND POLITICAL, -

THE LATE EIGHT HONOURABLE

RICHARD LALOR SHEIL

EDITED, WITH NOTES,

BY M. W. SAVAGE, ESQ.

IN TWO VOLUirES.

YOL. II.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN,

BY HIS SUCCESSOKS, HUKST & BLACKETT,

13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.

1855.

PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SOKS,
LONDON GAZETTE OmCK, ST. MARTIN'S LAN!.

CONTENTS

THE SECOND VOLUME,

POLITICAL SKETCHES.

PAGE

STATE OP PAETIES IN DUBLIN" 3

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION 19

THE TABINET BALL 55

THE HOHENLOE MIRACLE; OK, THE EXORCISM OF A)

\ 77
DIVINE J

THE CLARE ELECTION. PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS .... 101

THE CLAEE ELECTION. THE COURT-HOUSE AND THE!

^ 121
POLL J

THE CLAEE ELECTION. O'CONNELL RETURNED 143

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS 157

PENENDEN HEATH ... 193

IV CONTENTS.

PAGE

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION 219

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. KENSINGTON .... 259
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. STONYHUEST .... 281

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN 813

IRISH ELECTIONS .... 329

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND ... ... 355

POLITICAL SKETCHES.

(Continued.)

VOL, II.

POLITICAL SKETCHES,

STATE OF PARTIES IN DUBLIN.

[APEIL, 1824.]

I CONCLUDED my last letter with the achievements of
Lord Wellesley at the Beef-steak Club, and turn from
the noble Marquis to a person who has not long since
enjoyed much more substantial power that the present
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Mr. Saurin, who for more
than fifteen years had exercised an authority little short
of absolute dominion, had been removed from office with
such peremptory haste, as almost amounted to disgrace.
The support given by Mr. Plunket to the Six Acts made
the cabinet over-willing to accede to the stipulations of
the Grenville party, that he should be restored to the
situation for which he had displayed so many unequi-
vocal requisites. Saurin was promptly sacrificed.

Few men are more sensitive than this virulent poli-
tician, who carried into his retirement those deep and
dark emotions which, however hidden by a superficial

B 2

4 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

congelation in characters so externally cold as his, do
not boil and fret with the less vehemence from being
secret and unheard. Even in prosperity his mind had
manifested its vindictive tendencies. All the long sun-
shine of fortune could not make it completely bright, or
divest it of its gloomy and monastic hue. When placed
upon the top of provincial power, and virtually the Pro-
consul of Ireland, he exhibited a strange inveteracy of
dislike to all those who attempted to thwart his mea-
sures. If this spirit could not refrain from showing
itself, when every circumstance contributed to allay it,
his political disasters impelled it into new activity and
force. Yet he endeavoured to carry a sort of dignity
into his retreat, and, wrapping himself in the cloak of
principle, exclaimed, " Mea" virtute me involve." The
mantle was a little tarnished, nor was it difficult to dis-
cern the writhings of the wounded politician underneath.
Even this thin and threadbare covering was soon after
torn away. His famous epistle to Lord Norbury was
discovered.* There is in Ireland a kind of Spartan
notion of criminality. It is not so much the perpetra-
tion that constitutes the offence, as the discovery. The
detection of this document, in which an Attorney- Gene-
ral had taken upon himself to exhort a Chief Justice to
employ his judicial influence in the promotion of a
political purpose, created universal surprise. This un-
fortunate disclosure of the system upon which his
government had been carried on, tended not a little to
augment the gall which so many circumstances had
conspired to accumulate ; and when the ex-officio pro-
ceedings were instituted by his successor, no man was

* See the sketch of Lord Norbury, where this letter will be found inserted.

STATE OF PARTIES IN DUBLIN. 5

more vehement than Mr. Saurin in his reprobation of
the high prerogative proceeding.

He protested (and he is in the hahit of enforcing his
asseverations by appeals to the highest authority, and by
the most solemn adjurations) that in his opinion the
conduct of Mr. Plunket was the most flagrant violation
of constitutional principle which had ever been at-
tempted. He seemed to think that the genius of
Jeffries had by a kind of political metempsychosis been
restored in the person of William Cunningham Plunket.
He became so clamorous in his invocations to liberty,
that he almost verified the parable in the Scriptures.
The demon of "Whiggism, after a long expulsion, seemed
to have effected a re-entry into his spirit, and to have
brought a seven-fold power along with it. He was
much more rancorously liberal than he had ever been,
even at the period of his hottest opposition to the
Union. Little did he think, in this sudden but not
unaccountable paroxysm of constitutional emotion, that
his own authority would be speedily produced as a
precedent, and that his great rival would find a shelter
under the shadow of so eminent a name. It was not,
however, to convivial declamations that his invectives
were confined. The press was resorted to, and a pamph-
let entitled "A year of Lord Wellesley's Administra-
tion" appeared. It Avas written with skill, but without
power. It was destitute of real eloquence, but exhi-
bited that species of dexterity which a veteran prac-
titioner in Chancery might be expected to display. It
was believed that if not actually written by Saurin, he
supplied the materials. The poison was compounded
t)y other hands. This book was a good deal read, but

6 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

owed its circulation rather to the opinions which it
inculcated, than to the language in which they were
conveyed.

Having succeeded in exciting the public mind to an
adequate tone of irritation, Mr. Sauriii resolved to push
his attack into his enemy's territory, and to invade him
in the House of Commons. The selection which he
made of one of his instruments for this purpose was a
little singular. His oratory illustrates a plirase of the
satirist, " tenero supplantat verba palato." The spirit
of Saurin, however, breathed some of its masculine
nature into his soul, and he exhibited a sort of Amazon
intrepidity in his encounter with Mr. Pluuket. His
coadjutor was more appropriately chosen, and a curtain
noble lictor was felicitously selected for the scourging
of the Attorney-General.* That the latter was guilty of
some indiscretion in revenging the affront which was
offered to the vice-regal dignity, his firmest advocates
do not now dispute. He was probably actuated by an
honest desire to pierce into and disclose the penetralia
of Orangeism, but this object he might perhaps have
attained without committing the rioters for high treason
against the representative majesty of the noble Marquis.
He lent himself not a little to the personal exasperation
of that distinguished nobleman. Lord "Wellesley re-
garded the bottle affair not only as a violation of his
honour, but as an attempt upon his life.

* Mr. Charles Brownlow (the late Lord Lurgan) was the leader of
the parliamentary attack upou Mr. Plunkct. Tlie " noble lictor" was
Colonel Barry, an officer of militia, aud representative of the county of
Cavan. He succeeded to the barony of Farnliam upon the death of his
cousin, the fourth baron, in July 1823.

STATE OF PARTIES IN DUBLIN. 7

It has been happily observed in a very excellent
pamphlet, written by Mr. vEneas M'Donnel (the author
of the Letters of Hibernicus, in the Courier), that in
the year 1817 Lord Wellesley had, in a speech in the
House of Lords, expressed a hope that the Ministers
would not allow themselves to be frightened with glass
bottles. He now looked with no ordinary awe upon
these vitreous engines of destruction. Death appeared
to have been uncorked, and like Asmodeus in Le Sage's
novel, who rises in smoke from the mysterious phial of
a conjuror, the king of terrors ascended upon the imagi-
nation of his lordship in the foam of porter and the
exspuitions of ginger-beer.

Mr. Plunkct accordingly undertook a task, to which,
with all his talents, the event proved him to be unequal.
He had not only to contend with a certain rashness that
constitutes a predominant feature in his character, but
with a previous indisposition, which was fully as much
personal as political, that was created against himself
He has no party in the country. He has not the talent
of attaching men to his interests by the strong ties of
individual regard. Saurin is in this particular essen-
tially his superior. The unaffected affability of the
latter, which is wholly free from " enforced ceremony,"
has secured to him the strict adhesion of his political
partisans, and tended in some degree to mitigate the
hostility of his opponents. The manners of Mr. Plun-
ket are peculiarly impolitic and unhappy. It is said
that the authoritative frigidity of his demeanour is the
result of mere heedlessness. But what business has a
statesman to be heedless ? The austerity of his occa-
sional recognition is not a little annoying to the self-

8 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

respect of the individuals who chance to fall within the
scope of his unobservant vision. It may be figuratively
as well as literally said, that he is short-sighted. It was
the sagacious Alva, I think, who said that he could pur-
chase a man with a touch of his bonnet. Mr. Plunket
seems generally indisposed to pay even this low price
for a commodity which is at once so valuable and so
cheap.

Yet upon occcasion, and when he has some imme-
diate object in view, he assumes a sort of clumsy con-
descension. His temporary politeness is like a new
garment that sits uneasily upon him. At the approach
of a college election the film is gradually removed from
his eyes. He kens a voter at a mile's distance, and
acquires a telescopic vision. He is no Coriolanus in
his candidateship. It was quite pleasant to see him
during the last election standing upon a wet and driz-
zling day on the steps of the college examination-hall,
with his hat in his hand, and while the rain fell upon
his broad and haughty forehead, soliciting the glance
of every scholar that happened to pass him by, and
congratulating the students upon the premiums which
they had obtained, and for which they were no doubt
indebted to the inestimable instructions of their tutors,
who united to their great talents the no less valuable
faculty of having a vote. I am far from meaning to
say that at an election the very extravagancies of
courtesy are not almost legitimate. It is the subse-
quent and almost instantaneous contrast that renders
these caprices of demeanour so ridiculous. A week or
two after his return, the sight of Mr. Plunket becomes
impaired. The dimness increases in a month, and in a

STATE OF PARTIES IX DUBLIN. 9

year he is stone-blind. This infelicity of manner is a
great drawback upon his many excellent qualities, and
has produced no little alienation. His advocates are
influenced in their support, rather by a sense of duty
than by any individual partiality.

It should be added, that he has been guilty of a
grievous mistake in the distribution of his patronage.
In place of endeavouring to extend his influence among
those \vho had already rendered and who were still
able to confer upon him political services, he gave
places to his sons. This was an error (for it deserves
no stronger designation) which Saurin did not commit.
The latter commanded all the patronage of the govern-
ment at the Bar. His spirit was felt in every appoint-
ment. He sat in the centre of the system which he
had himself elaborated, and " lived in every line." But
Plunket, after having indulged in his parental par-
tialities, allowed the Solicitor-General to supersede him
at the Castle. The latter who, although a recruit from
the Saurin faction, often casts " a lingering look be-
hind," has made good use of the official nonchalance of
his confederate, and snatched the horn of plenty from
his hands. It was matter of universal surprise, that
when recent vacancies in the situation of assistant-
barrister had occurred, Mr. Plunket had not exercised
his influence in the nomination of some members of
the liberal party. His friends apologized for him by
alleging that he was relaxing from his political labours
at Old Connaught (his country residence), and listening
to the cawing of the rooks in the avenues of that
magnificent villa, while Mr. Joy was busily employed
in feathering the nests of his partisans, and turning
the reveries of his absent friend into political account.

10 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

I mention these circumstances, because they afford
an insight into the character of this very able man;
and although they do not fall into the natural order of
events, explain the absence of sympathy in the great
emergency into which he was suddenly thrown. He
had, indeed, a few old and staunch supporters, the
friends of his youth, and to whom he is most honour-
ably and immutably attached; but they were lost
amidst the crowd of railers who triumphed in the anti-
cipation of his fall / and that he would have fallen is
most likely, but for a discovery which produced an
immediate and powerful revulsion in the public mind.

It occurred to a professional gentleman, Mr. Foley,
whose recollection was less evanescent than the memory
of Mr. Sealy Townsend (the gentleman who had
actually drawn the ex officio informations for Mr.
Saurin as well as for his successor), that a precedent
might be found for this stretch of the prerogative even
in the constitutional dictatorship of the ex- Attorney-
General. It is indeed a matter of surprise that Mr.
Sealy Townsend should not have remembered so im-
portant a fact.* In no less than two instances had
Mr. Saurin resorted to the exercise of this formidable
authority, and employed upon both occasions the pro-

* Mr. John Sealy Townsend (afterwards a Master of Chancery) held
the office of law-adviser to the Castle at the period of these prosecu-
tions. Though not the "Devil to the Attorney -General," as Mr. Shell
supposed, it was part of his official duty to aid the law officers of the
Crown. When -Mr. Plunket electrified the House of Commons by the
production of Mr. Saurin's ex officio proceedings, severe remarks were
made by Mr. Abercromby " upon the way the Attorney-General for
Ireland was served in the discharge of his duties;" and a motion \v;is
even made by Mr. Calcraft, that Mr. Saurin himself should be summoned
before the

STATE OF PARTIES IN DUBLIN. 11

fessional labours of Mr. Townsend, who is what is
generally called " Devil to the Attorney- General." So
distinguished is Mr. Townsend for the permanence of
his recollections, that there are those who insinuate
that even its failings lean to memory's side, and that
his very oblivion is the result of reminiscence. Whether
he remembered to forget I shall not venture to decide,
but certain it is, that in this important conjuncture the
integrity of his recollection was like the chastity of
Haidee, and

" he forgot
Just in the very moment he should not."

Mr. Foley, having ascertained by an inspection of the
records that Mr. Saurin had fulminated two of the
prerogative bolts, where the bills of indictment had
been ignored, hastened to communicate the discovery
to Mr. Plunket, who is said to have been overjoyed at
the intelligence. He felt like a man who had been
fighting without arms, and in the very crisis of the
combat was supplied with weapons of irresistible
power.

The effect produced in the House of Commons is
well known. The disclosure struck the ascendancy
faction in Ireland like a palsy. The hopes of the
liberals rose in proportion to the declination of the
opposite party; and when soon after Sir Abraham
Bradley King was produced at the bar of the House of
Commons, it was expected that Orangeism would be at
length unmasked, and that its sanguinary turpitude
would be left without a veil.

The examination of the "Pro P atria" baronet (this
person had been originally a stationer) was watched

12 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

with the most intense anxiety. He had been hailed
by Lord Sidmouth as the chief conciliator of Ireland,
was created a baronet by His Majesty for the getting
up of a convivial amnesty, and immediately after the
departure of the King poured out a libation to " the
glorious memory," and, as he elegantly expressed it,
''threw off his surtout." It was now anticipated that
he would be obliged to divest himself of his inner
Orange garment, and disclose all the loathsome rags
that were concealed beneath. But these expectations
were blasted in the bud. Sir Abraham, who had
received a wholesome hint, made a mock tender of
martyrdom, and furnished, in the impunity of his
defiance, matter of astonishment to the empire, and of
indignation to Ireland. He returned in triumph to
Dublin, with Mr. Plunket bound at his chariot-wheels.*
I saw the Attorney-General in the Four Courts
shortly after his arrival. His face was full of care, and
haggard with disappointment and self-reproach. There
was a lividness in his eyelids, and a wanness in his
cheek, which denoted a spirit pining under the sense of

* It is not easy to discover in what took place ou the examination of
King, the Dublin stationer, any triumph obtained over Mr. Plunket.
King alleged his oath of secresy as an Orangeman to justify his refusal
to answer a question put by Sir John Newport as to the use of certain
scriptural phrases (about Joshua and the Amalekites) in the initiation of
members of the Orange Lodges. The Committee seems to have attached
more importance to the question than was expedient ; and by pressing
the witness after they had substantially arrived at what they wanted to
learn, they put an obscure individual in a position to claim a victory over
the House. But there was no defeat of Mr. Plunket ; on the contrary,
the incredible virulence with which he was assailed by the faction in
Dublin proved what a formidable enemy they had found him in parlia-
ment.

STATE OP PARTIES IX DUBLIN. 13

an unmerited humiliation, which he vainly struggled to
conceal. How unlike he looked to the distinguished
person, who, a little while before, unpensioned and
unplaced, was in the full enjoyment of that high
renown, for the diminution of which no emoluments
can compensate, and who, instead of being the pro-
vincial utensil of the British cabinet, was almost the
foremost man in the first assembly in the world.

The next public event of sufficient importance to
take a place in these epistolary annals, was the first of
that series of alleged miraculous interpositions of which
England as well as Ireland has heard so much. You
will scarcely expect that I should enter upon a dis-
cussion of their authenticity. The subject is too sacred
to be lightly treated; and for a grave and detailed
discussion what limits would suffice ? I shall therefore
pass on at once to the notice of a person, certainly of no
ordinary kind, whom they have been the means of call-
ing forth to public view, and who has in consequence
acquired a degree of general notoriety, and of import-
ance among his own persuasion, unenjoyed by any
Catholic priest or prelate of Ireland since the days of
the celebrated O'Leary. You anticipate that I must
be alluding to Doctor Doyle, the titular bishop of
Leighlin and Kildare.*

This gentleman is descended from one of those
respectable families in this country that have, as to the
worldly attribute of wealth, been irretrievably ruined
by the politics of Ireland. So recently as in the life-
time of his father, the penal code laid its vulture-grasp
upon the patrimonial inheritance, and wrested it for

* See note (1) to the subsequent paper entitled Exorcism of a Divine.

14 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

ever. Upon approaching to man's estate he found
himself in education and alliances a gentleman in
prospects and resources an Irish Catholic. To a person
so circumstanced exile had its charms; so, shaking the
dust of his natal soil from his feet, he passed into
Portugal, where he perfected his education in one of
the universities of that country, and became an eccle-
siastic. He returned to Ireland about years

ago. His learning and talents, both of which are
great, procured his nomination to the Professorship of
Logic in the Catholic college of Carlow, and subse-
quently to the titular bishoprick which he now enjoys.
In this country, where the deepest and most frequent
crimes of the peasantry have a State-origin, a Catholic
pastor, who regards his flock, cannot abstain from
intermingling political allusions in his public exhorta-
tions ; and however resolutely it may be denied, it is
an unquestionable fact that many an insurgent con-
gregation is tamed into submission to their destiny by
the voice of peace and warning that issues from the
altar. In this part of his religious duties Dr. Doyle
was long remarkable for his moderation. Upon the
last general commotion in the South, about sixteen
months ago, he published a pastoral address, so adapted
to his object by the spirit of Christian eloquence and
charity which it breathed, that Mr. Plunket did not
hesitate to pronounce it a masterpiece worthy of the
meek and virtuous Fenelon. It was calculated to be of
equal service to the government and the established
church; but a hierarch of the dominant faith was
untouched by its merits, and in one of his addresses, or
as it "was more correctly entitled, his charge, responded

STATE OF PAETIES IX DUBLIN. 15

by a puerile and blundering insult upon the religion of
a man whom he should have embraced as a brother,
and might in many points have studied as a model.

This unprovoked anathema, combined with the
various exciting events that followed in rapid suc-
cession, roused Dr. Doyle to a vindication of his creed,
and (a still more popular theme) to some elaborate and
cutting retorts upon the most precious and vulnerable
attribute of Irish orthodoxy its temporalities. He
has boldly denied the divinity of tithes, and has
brought to bear a most provoking array of learning and
logic upon their Noli-me-tangere pretensions. A deadly
controversy has ensued, and still rages. I. K. L. (the
signature which Dr. Doyle has adopted), has been
answered and denounced by sundry beneficed alpha-
betical characters, and tithe-loving anagrams, for these
champions of the church seem reluctant to commit
their names, and deep and wide- spreading is the
interest with which the combat is observed. Upon the
merits of questions so entirely beside my pursuits I
cannot venture to pronounce ; but as far as the mere
exhibition of wit and knowledge and controversial skill
is concerned, it seems to me that I. K. L. has hitherto
continued master of the field. "You are a Jacobin
and a Catholic," cries the Rev. F. W. " You are too
fond of gold and silver/' retorts I. K. L. "Would you
plunder the established church of its vested comforts,
you Papist ?" exclaims T. Y. X. " Would you drive a
coach and six along the narrow path that leads to
Heaven ?" rejoins the pertinacious I. K. L. "Where
are your authorities for your monstrous positions?"
demands a tliird adversary, muffled up in an aboriginal

16 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Irish name turned inside out. " I -refer you (replies
I. K. L. here evidently quite at home) to the Fathers,
whom you clearly have never read, and in particular to
St. Augustine, who wrote the book De Doctrina
Christiana, which you have blunderingly attributed to
Pope Gelasius, and which book contains no such
passage as you have cited from it, the said passage
being in another book, to wit, that against the
Eutychian heresy, which in the opinion of Baronius
and M. Cano was never written by Pope Gelasius ; and
for further illustrations of my views, vide passim, Erric,
Prosper, D'Marea, Cardinal Lupus, Cervantes, and
Fijo, if you know anything of Spanish; Illiricus,
Vincent of Lirins, Pallivicini, Yigilantius, (Ecolam-
padius, and the Fudge Family." Here is a good six
months' course of reading for I. K. L/s biliteral and
triliteral opponents; and the happy results will, no
doubt, be communicated in due season to the public.

The profusion of erudition and contempt with which
Dr. Doyle plies his adversaries, led me to imagine
before I saw him that he must be a man of pompous
and somewhat overbearing carriage, but his appearance
and his manners (which I am told are courteous and play-
ful) have quite a different character. He is not more,
I understand, than forty years of age, and does not
seem so much. He is indeed the most juvenile-looking
prelate I ever saw. His smooth round face and ruddy
complexion, and his slender and pliant form, seem to
belong rather to a young recruit of the church than to
one of its established dignitaries. His face has a very
peculiar expression intelligence throughout, strength
and an honest scorn about the mouth and lips, and in

STATE OF PARTIES IX DUBLIN. 17

the eyes a mingled character of caution and slyness,
produced by their downcast look and the overhanging
of thick and shady lashes, as if he made it a point of
prudence to screen from hostile observation the light
and indignation, and, perhaps, now and then the tri-
umph, that glow within.

The remark may be fanciful, but it struck me that I
could discover in his controlled and measured gait the
same secret consciousness of strength, and the same
reluctance to display it. Perhaps I might extend the
observation to the entire of the Catholic hierarchy.
How different their air and movements from those of
corresponding rank in the more favoured sect ! See in
the streets a prelatical sample of ascendancy, and with
what a buoyant and lordly swing, like a vessel laden
with worldly wealth, and wafted before a prosperous
trade- wind, he rolls along! With what pride and
energy, and deep-seated reliance upon the eternity of
tithes, he thrusts out one holy and pampered leg before
the other ! He tramples upon Irish ground with the
familiar superiority of one who feels that an ample
portion of its fertile soil ia irrevocably dedicated by
divine conveyance, collaterally secured by common and
statute law, to the uses of his sacred corporation. But
the bishop of the people how dissimilar his attitude
and gesture ! He picks his cautious steps as if the way
were lined with penal traps, and checks the natural
impulse of humanity to appear abroad with the firm air
and carriage of a man, lest a passing alderman, or
tutored parrot from an Orange window, should salute
his ears with some vituperative cant against his politics
and creed. I would suggest, however to Dr. Doyle

VOL. II. C

18 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

that he need not fear to throw out his limbs as he
has done his mind. The enemies of his country have
already tendered him the homage of their hatred; that
of their fear and respect will inevitably follow.

19

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION.

[MAY, 1825.]

THE Roman Catholic Association having resolved to
petition the House of Commons against the Bill which
was in progress for their suppression, requested Mr.
O'Connell and Mr. Sheil to attend at the bar of the
house, and prayed that tHose gentlemen should be heard
as counsel on behalf of the body in whose proceedings
they had taken so active a participation.* They ap-
peared to undertake the office with reluctance. It
involved a great personal sacrifice upon the part of
Mr. O'Connellj and independently of any immediate
loss in his profession, Mr. Sheil could not fail to per-
ceive that it must prejudice him in some degree as a
barrister, to turn aside from the beaten track of his

* At the opening of the session of 1825, the King's speech called the
attention of Parliament to the existence of organized meetings in Ireland
calculated to endanger the peace of society ; and a measure to suppress
the Catholic Association was immediately introduced. The Catholic
leaders petitioned to be heard by their counsel against the bill, and sent
a deputation to London to manage the opposition to it. The petition
was presented by Mr. Brougham, and the question of hearing the
petitioners gave rise to a spirited and acrimonious debate. The motion
was rejected by a large majority.

c 2

20 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

profession, in the pursuit of a brilliant, but somewhat
illusory object.

It was, however, next to impossible to disobey the
injunction of a whole people and they accepted this
honourable trust. At the same time that counsel were
appointed, it was determined that other gentlemen
should attend the debates of the House of Commons in
the character of deputies, and should constitute a sort
of embassy to the English people.

The plan of its constitution was a little fantastic.
Any person who deemed it either pleasurable or expe-
dient to attach himself to this delegation M'as declared
to be a member, and, in consequence, a number of indi-
viduals enrolled themselves as volunteers in the national
sendee. I united myself to these political missionaries,
not from any hope that I should succeed in detaching
Lord Eldon from the church,*"or in banishing the fear
of Oxford from the eyes of Mr. Peel, but from a natural
curiosity to observe the scenes of interest and novelty,
into which, from my representative character, I thought
it not improbable that I should be introduced. I set
out in quest of political adventure, and determined to
commit to a sort of journal, whatever should strike me
to be deserving of note. Upon my return to Ireland,
I sent to certain of my friends some extracts from
the diary which I had kept, in conformity with this
resolution. They told me that I had heard and seen
much of what was not destitute of interest, and, at their
suggestion, I have wrought the observations, which
were loosely thrown together, into a more regular
shape, although they will, I fear, carry with them an
evidence of the haste and hcedlessness with which they
were originally set down.

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 21

The party of deputies to which I had annexed myself,
travelled in a barouche belonging to Mr. O'Connell, of
which he was kind enough to offer us the use. I fancy
that we made rather a singular appearance, for the eyes
of every passenger were fixed upon us as we passed;
and at Coventry, (a spot sacred to curiosity,) the mis-
tress of the inn where we stopped to change horses,
asked me, with a mixture of inquisitivcness and wonder,
and after many apologies for the liberty she took in
putting the interrogatory, "who the gentlemen were?"
I contented myself with telling her that we were Irish
" Parliament folk, I suppose ?" to which, with a little
mental reservation, I nodded assent.

Mr. O'Connell, as usual, attracted the larger portion
of the public gaze. He was seated on the box of the
barouche, with a huge cloak folded about him, which
seemed to be a revival of the famous Irish mantle ;
though far be it from me to insinuate that it was
ever dedicated to some of the purposes to which it is
suggested by Spenser that the national garment was
devoted.* His tall and ample figure enveloped in the
trappings that fell widely round him, and his open and
manly physiognomy, rendered him a very conspicuous
object, from the elevated station which he occupied.
"Wherever we stopped, he called with an earnest and
sonorous tone for a newspaper, being naturally solicitous
to learn whether he should be heard at the bar of the

* " It is a fit house for an outlaw, a meet bed for a rebel, an apt
cloak for a thief. When it raineth, it is his pent-house, when it bloweth,
it is his tent, when it freezes, it is his tabernacle. In summer he can
wear it loose, in winter he can wrap it close ; at all times he can use it ;
never heavy, never cumbersome." View of the State of Ireland as it
was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

22 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

house; and in invoking "mine host" for the parlia-
mentary debates, he employed a cadence and gesture
which carried along with them the unequivocal intima-
tions of his country.

Nothing deserving of mention occurred until we had
reached Wolverhampton. We arrived at that town
about eight o'clock in the morning, with keener appe-
tites than befitted the season of abstinence, during
which we were condemned to travel. The table was
strewed with a tantalizing profusion of the choicest fare.
Every eye was fixed upon an unhallowed round of beef,
which seemed to have been deposited in the centre of
the breakfast-room with a view to " lead us into tempta-
tion," when Mr. O'Connell exclaimed "recollect that
you are within sacred precincts. The conqueror of
Sturges, and the terror of the Veto-ists, has made
Wolverhampton holy."* This admonition saved us on
the verge of the precipice we thought that we beheld
the pastoral staff of the famous Doctor raised up be-

* Doctor Milner, Roman Catholic Bishop of Castabala, and Vicar
Apostolic of the Midland District in England, was equally eminent as a
polemic and antiquarian. Among numerous other works he wrote a
history of the antiquities of Winchester, in wliich he displayed both
his antiquarian research and his controversial furor. Among other
things, he treated the character of Bishop Hoadly with a provoking
freedom. The Rev. Doctor Sturges, a dignitary of Winchester, replied
in a lxx>k called Reflections on Popery. Milner rejoined in Letters to
a Prebendary. Other divines mingled in the fray, some on one side,
some on the other; and, as usual in such contests, the victory was
claimed by both parties. On the question of the veto, Doctor Milner
was the stubborn advocate of ultramontane opinions, holding the largest
measure of Emancipation to be no equivalent for the concession to the
Crown of any control upon the appointment of the bishops of the Roman
Catholic Church. This position made him at one time exceedingly
unpopular with a powerful section of the Catholic party.

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 23

tween us and the forbidden feast, and turned slowly
and reluctantly from its unavailing contemplation to
the lenten mediocrity of dry toast and creamless tea.

We had finished our repast, when it was suggested
that we ought to pay Doctor Milner a visit before we
proceeded upon our journey. This proposition was
adopted with alacrity, and we went forth in a body in
quest of that energetic divine. We experienced some
little difficulty in discovering his abode, and received
most evangelical looks and ambiguous answers to our
inquiries. A damsel of thirty, with a physiognomy
which was at once comely and demure, replied to us at
first with a mixture of affected ignorance and ostenta-
tious disdain until Sir Thomas Esmonde,* who is " a
marvellous proper" man in every sense of the word,
whether it be taken in its physical or moral meaning,
addressed the fair votary of Wesley with a sort of
chuck-under-the-chin manner (as Leigh Hunt would
call it), and bringing a more benign and feminine smile
upon a face which had been over-spiritualized by some
potent teacher of the word, induced the mitigated
methodist to reply: "If you had asked me for the
Popish priest, instead of the Catholic bishop, I should
have told you that he lived yonder," pointing to a large
but desolate-looking mansion before us. We pro-
ceeded, acccording to her directions, to Dr. Milner*s
residence.

It had an ample, but dreary front. The windows
were dingy, and covered with cobwebs, and the grass
before the door seemed to illustrate the Irish impreca-

* A Catholic gentleman of the highest respectability. He repre-
sented the county of Wexford in the last parliament, and is an Irish
Privy Councillor.

24 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

tion. It is separated from the street by a high railing
of rusty metal, at which we rang several times without
receiving any response. It was suggested to us, that if
we tried the kitchen door, we should probably get in.
We accordingly turned into a lane, leading to the
postern gate, which was opened by an old and feeble, but
very venerable gentleman, in whom I slowly recognised
the active and vigorous prelate, whom I had seen some
years ago in the hottest onset of the Veto warfare in
Ireland. His figure had nothing of the Becket port
which formerly belonged to it. A gentle languor sat
upon a face which I had seen full of fire and expression
his eye was almost hid under the relaxed and drop-
ping eyelid, and his voice was querulous, undecided, and
weak.

He did not recollect Mr. O'Connell, and appeared at
a loss to conjecture our purpose. "We have come to
pay you a visit, my lord," said Mr. O'Connell. The
interpellation was pregnant with our religion; "my
lord/' uttered with a vernacular richness of intonation,
gave him an assurance that we were from " the Island
of Saints," and on the right road to heaven. He
asked us, with easy urbanity, to walk in. We found
that he had been sitting at his kitchen fire, with a
small cup of chocolate, and a little bread, which made
up his simple and apostolic breakfast. There was an
English neatness and brightness in everything about
us, which was not out of keeping with the cold but
polished civility of our reception. The Doctor was, for
a little while, somewhat hallucinated, and still seemed
to wonder at our coming. There was an awkward
pause. At length Mr. O'Connell put him aufait. He
told him who he was, and that he and his colleagues

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 25

were going to London to plead the cause of their holy
religion. The name of the counsellor did not give the
Doctor as electric a shock as I had expected he merely
said, that we did him very great honour, and wished us
every success. He requested us to walk up stairs, and
welcomed us with much courtesy, but little warmth.
Time had been busy with him. His faculties were not
much impaired, but his emotions were gone. His
ideas ran clearly enough, but his blood had ceased to
flow.

We sat down in his library. The conversation hung
fire. The inflammable materials of which his mind
was originally composed, were damp by age. O'Connell
primed him two or three times, and yet he did not for
a long while fairly go off. I resolved to try an expe-
dient, by way of experiment upon episcopal nature, and
being well aware of his feuds with Mr. Charles Butler,
(the great lawyer and profound theologian of Lincoln's
Inn), asked him, with much innocence of manner,
though I confess with some malice of intent, " whether
he had lately heard from his old friend, Charles
Butler?"*

The name was talismanic the resurrection of the
Doctor's passions was instantaneous and complete. His

* This eminent and learned man was Secretary to the Committee of
English Catholics, and in that capacity came into collision with Milner.
ilr. Butler and Wilkes, a monk, were the joint writers of the tracts that
issued from the Committee, and were called The Slue Books. Butler
tells us in his reminiscences, that these were called in Italy Lilri
turcldni, and that an English divine, not well acquainted with Italian,
mistook the word for torcliini, and translated it "Torches of heterodoxy. 3 '
There were also red books and buff books, proceeding from the same
source. The polemical spirit was busy in those days, and the press
teemed with controversy ; the Catholic divine belaboured the Catholic
lawyer, and the Protestant doctors fell upon both.

2G POLITICAL SKETCHES.

face became bright, his form quickened and alert, and
his eye was lighted up with true scholastic ecst:.- \ . lie
seemed ready to enter once more into the rugged field
of controversy, in which he had won so many laurels,
and to be prepared to "fight his battles o'er again/''
To do him justice, he said nothing of his ancient
antagonist in polemics which a bishop and a divine
ought not to say ; he, on the contrary, mentioned that
a reconciliation had taken place. I could, however*
perceive, that the junction of their minds was not per-
fectly smooth, and saw the marks of the cement, which
had " soldered up the rift." The odium theologictim
had been neutralized by an infusion of Christianity, but
some traces of its original acidity could not fail to
remain. He spoke of Mr. Butler as a man of great
learning and talents ; and I should mention parenthe-
.tically, that I afterwards heard the latter express himself
of Doctor Milner, as a person of vast erudition, and
who reflected honour, by the purity of his life, and the
extent of his endowments, upon the body to which he
belonged.

The impulse given to his mind by the mention of his
achievements in controversy, extended itself to other
topics. Cobbett had done, said Doctor Milner, service
to Ireland, and to its religion, by addressing himself to
the common sense of the English people, and trying to
purge them of their . misconceptions respecting the
belief of the great majority of the Christian world.
The Doctor spoke with a good deal of energy of the
contests which had been carried on between the clergy
and the itinerant missionaries of the Bible Society in
Ireland, and congratulated Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Sheil
on their exertions in Cork, from which the systematic

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 27

counteraction of the new apostles had originated.
Mr. O'Connell expressed his obligations upon this
occasion to Dr. Milner's celebrated, and, let me add,
admirable work, which has been so felicitously entitled
"The End of Religious Controversy." "Oh!" said
the Doctor, "I am growing old, or I should write a
supplement to that book."

After some further desultory conversation, we took
our leave. Doctor Milner, who had been aroused into
his former energy, thanked us with simple and unaffected
cordiality for our visit. He conducted us to the gate
before his mansion, (in which I should observe that
neither luxury nor want appear) with his white head
uncovered, and with the venerable grace of age and
piety bade us farewell.*

~\Ve proceeded upon our journey. No incident
occurred deserving of mention, unless a change in our
feelings deserves the name. The moment we entered
England, I perceived that the sense of our own national
importance had sustained some diminution, and that,

* Doctor Milner died in the following year (1826). He was a remark-
able man in his day. The mere enumeration of his works would fill a
pamphlet. One of his early treatises was, An Historical and Critical
Enquiry into the Existence and Character of St. George, patron of
England, of the Order of the Garter, and of the Antiquarian Society.
He discusses the observations of Gibbon and others, and proposes to prove
that St. George the Martyr was neither an imaginary being, nor the
infamous Cappadocian of the same name who in the fourth century
usurped the see of Alexandria. In 1807 Doctor Milner visited Ireland,
and produced a work on its religion and its antiquities, which embroiled
him with Dr. Ledwich. But the End of Religious Controversy was
his most important work. Dr. Parr replied to it in a letter which did
not appear until after his death. Milner did not leave his posthumous
opponent unanswered, proving that religious controversy, like a circle,
has no end.

28 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

however slowly and reluctantly we acknowledged it to
ourselves, the contemplation of the opulence which
surrounded us, and in which we saw the results and
evidences of British power and greatness, impressed
upon every one of us the consciousness of our provincial
inferiority, and the conviction that it is only from
an intimate alliance with Great Britain, or rather a
complete amalgamation with her immense dominion,
that any permanent prosperity can be reasonably
expected to be derived. In the sudden transition from
the scenes of misery and sorrow to which we are
habituated in Ireland to the splendid spectacle of
English wealth and civilization, the humiliating con-
trast between the two islands presses itself upon every
ordinary observer. It is at all times remarkable. Com-
pared to her proud and pampered sister, clothed as she
is in purple and in gold, Ireland, with all her natural
endowments, at best appears but a squalid and emaciated
beauty. I have never failed to be struck and pained
by this unfortunate disparity: but upon the present
occasion the objects of our mission, and the peculiarly
national capacity in which we were placed in relation to
England, naturally drew our meditation to the sur-
passing glory of the people, of whom we had come to
solicit redress.

An occasional visit to England has a very salutary
effect. It operates as a complete sedative to the ardour
of the political passions. It should be prescribed as a
part of the antiphlogistic regimen. The persons who
take an active part in the impassioned deliberations of
the Irish people, are apt to be carried away by the
strength of the popular feelings which they contribute
to create. Having heated the public mind into an

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 29

ardent mass of emotion, they are themselves under the
influence of its intensity. This result is natural and
just : but among the consequences (most of which are
beneficial) which have arisen from this habitual excita-
tion, and to which the Catholics have reasonably
attributed much of their inchoate success, they have
forgotten the effect upon themselves, and have omitted
to observe in their own minds a disposition to exaggerate
the magnitude of the means by which their ends are to
be accomplished. In declaiming upon the immense
population of Ireland, they insensibly put out of account
the power of that nation from whom relief is demanded,
and who are grown old in the habit of domination,
which of all habits it is most difficult to resign.

A man like Mr. O'Connell, who, by the force of his
natural eloquence produces a great emotion in the
midst of an enthusiastic assembly of ardent and high-
blooded men, who is hailed by the community, of which
he is the leading member, as their chief and champion ;
who is greeted with popular benedictions as he passes,
whose name resounds in every alley, and " stands
rubric" on every wall, can with difficulty resist the
intoxicating influence of so many exciting causes, and
becomes a sort of political opium-eater, who must be
torn from these "seductive indulgences, in order to
reduce him into perfect soundness and soberness of
thought.

His deputation to England produced an almost imme-
diate effect upon him. As we advanced, the din of
popular assemblies became more faint ; the voice of the
multitude was scarcely heard in the distance, and at
last died away. He seemed half English at Shrews-
bury, and was nearly Saxonized when we entered the

30 . POLITICAL SKETCHES.

rnurky magnificence of Warwickshire. As we surveyed
the volcanic region of manufactures, and saw a thousand
Etnas vomiting their eternal fires, the recollections of
Erin passed away from his mind, and the smoky glories
of Wolverhampton took possession of his soul. The
feeling which attended our progress through England
was not a little increased by our approach to its huge
metropolis. The waste of wealth around us, the pro-
cession of ponderous vehicles that choked the public
roads, the rapid and continuous sweep of carriages, the
succession of luxurious and brilliant towns, the crowd
of splendid villas, which Cowper has assimilated to the
beads upon the neck of an Asiatic Queen, and the vast
and dusky mass of bituminous vapour which crowns
the great city with an everlasting cloud, intimated our
approach to the modern Babylon.

Upon any ordinary occasion I should not, I believe,
have experienced any strong sensation on entering
London. What is commonly called " coming up to
town," is not a very sublime or moving incident. I
honestly confess that I have upon a fine summer morn-
ing stood on Westminster Bridge, upon my return from
the brilliant inanities of Vauxhall, and looked upon
London with a very drowsy sympathy in the meditative
enthusiasm which breathes through Wordsworth's admi-
rable sonnet. But upon the occasion which I am
describing, it needed little of the spirit of political
romance to receive a deep and stirring impulse, as we
advanced to the great metropolis of the British empire,
and heard the rolling of the great tide the murmurs, if
I may so say, of the vast sea of wealth before us. The
power of England was at this moment presented to us
in a more distinct and definite shape, and we were more

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 31

immediately led, as we entered London, to bring the
two countries into comparison. This, we exclaimed, is
London; and the recollection of our own Eblana was
manifest in the sigh with which the truism was spoken :
yet the reflection upon our inferiority was not unaccom-
panied by the consolatory anticipation that the time
was not distant, when we should be permitted to parti-
cipate in all the advantages of a real and consummated
junction of the two countries, when the impediments
to our national prosperity should be removed, and Ire-
land should receive the ample overflowings of that deep
current of opulence which we saw almost bursting
through its golden channels in the streets of the
immense metropolis.

Immediately after our arrival, we were informed by
the agent of the Roman Catholic Association in London,
Mr. ./Eneas M'Donnel (and who, in the discharge of
the duties confided to him, has evinced great talents,
judgment, and discretion), that Sir Francis Burdett was
desirous to see us as soon as possible. We accordingly
proceeded to his house in St. James's Place, where we
found the Member for Westminster living in all the
blaze of aristocracy. I had often heard Sir Francis
Burdett in popular assemblies, and had been greatly
struck with his simple, easy, and unsophisticated elo-
quence : I was extremely anxious to gain a nearer
access to a person of so much celebrity, and to have an
opportunity of observing the character and intellectual
habits of a man who had given so much of its move-
ment to the public mind.

He was sitting in his study when we were introduced
by Mr. M'Donnel. He received us without any of that
hauteur which I have heard attributed to him, and for

32 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

which his constitutional quiescence of manner is some-
times mistaken. We, who have the hot Celtic blood
in our veins, and deal in hyperbole upon occasions
which are not calculated to call up much emotion, are
naturally surprised at what we conceive to be a want of
ardour upon themes and incidents in which our own
feelings are deeply and fervently engaged. During my
short residence in London, I constantly felt among the
persons of high political influence whom we approached,
a calmness, which I should have taken for the stateliness
of authority in individuals, but that I found it was
much more national than personal, and was, in a great
degree, an universal property of the political world.

There was a great deal of simple dignity, which
was entirely free from affectation, in the address of Sir
Francis Burdett. Having requested us to sit, which
we did in a large circle (his first remark indeed was,
that we more numerous than he had expected) he came
with an instantaneous directness to the point, and after
a few words of course upon the honour conferred upon
him by being entrusted with the Catholic question,
entreated us with some strenuousness to substitute Mr.
Plunket in his place ; he protested his readiness to take
any part in the debate which should be assigned him ;
but stated, that there was no man so capable, and cer-
tainly none more anxious, than the Attorney- General
for the promotion of our cause. But for the plain and
honest manner in which this exhortation was given, I
should have suspected that he was merely performing
a part, but I have no doubt of the sincerity with which
the recommendation was given.

He dwelt at length upon the great qualifications of
Mr. Plunket as a parliamentary speaker, and pressed us

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 33

to waive all sort of form with respect to himself, and
put him at once aside for an abler advocate. We told
him that it was out of our power to rescind the decision
of an aggregate meeting. This he seemed to feel, and
said that he should endeavour to discharge the trust as
efficiently as he was able. His heart, he said, was in
the question he knew that there could not be peace
in Ireland until it was adjusted ; and for the country
he professed great attachment. He loved the people of
Ireland, and it was truly melancholy to see so noble a
race deprived of the power of turning their great natu-
ral endowments to any useful account. These obser-
vations, which an Irishman would have delivered with
great emphasis, were made by Sir Francis Burdett
almost without a change of tone or look. He made no
effort at strong expression. Everything was said with
great gentleness, perspicuity, and candour.

I thought, however, that he strangely hesitated for
common words. His language was as plain as his dress,
which was extremely simple, and indicated the favourite
pursuit of a man who is " mad at a fox-chase, wise at a
debate." I watched his face while he spoke. His eyes
are small and bright, but have no flash or splendour.
They are illuminated by a serene and tranquil spirit :
his forehead is high and finely arched, but narrow and
contracted, and although his face is lengthy, its features
are minute and delicately chiselled off. His mouth is
extremely small, and carries much suavity about it. I
should have guessed him at once to be a man of rank,
but should not have suspected his spirit to be a trans-
migration of Caius Gracchus. I should never have
guessed that he was the man whose breath had raised
so many waves upon the public mind, and aroused a

VOL. II. D

34 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

storm which made the vessel creak. I saw no shadow
of the " tower of Julius " in his pure and ruddy colour,
and should never have conjectured that he had inhaled
the evaporations of its stagnant moat. At the same time I
should observe, that if there were no evidences of a daring
or adventurous spirit about this champion of the people,
there are in his demeanour and bearing many indica-
tions of calm resolve and imperturbable determination.

I was a good deal more occupied in watching this
celebrated person, than in observing my companions.
Yet I at once perceived that we were too numerous
and gregarious a body for a council of state, and was
glad to find Mr. O'Connell take a decided, and what was
considered by some to be, a dictatorial tone amongst us.
I saw that unless some one individual assumed the
authority of speaking and acting for the rest, we should
in all likelihood be involved in those petty squabbles
and miserable contentions of which Bonaparte speaks
as characteristic of the Irish deputies who were sent to
Paris to negotiate a revolution. I was much pleased to
find that Mr. O'Connell gave, even in this early commu-
nication, strong proof of that wise, temperate, and con-
ciliatory spirit by which his conduct in London was
distinguished ; and by the manifestation of which, he
conferred incalculable service on his country.

After this interview with Sir Francis Burdctt, the
chief object of which, upon his part, was to sound our
disposition to confide the conduct of our cause to the
Irish Attorney- General, we proceeded to the House of
Commons, for the purpose of attending the debate upon
the petition to be heard by counsel at the bar. We
had already been informed by Sir Francis Burdett, that
it was very unlikely that the house would accede to the

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 35

petition, and that Ministers had collected their forces to
oppose it. For the result we were, therefore, prepared ;
but we were extremely anxious to hear a discussion, in
which Mr. Brougham was expected to display his great
powers, and in which the general demerits of the Associ-
ation would, in all probability, be brought by Ministers
underreview. The speakerhad the goodness to direct that
the Catholic deputies should be allowed to sit under the
gallery during the discussions which appertained imme-
diately to the object of their mission ; and we were, in
consequence, accommodated with places upon this 'vantage
ground ; from which I had an opportunity of observing
the orators of the night. We found a considerable array
in the house, and attracted universal observation.

In the front of our body was Mr. O'Connell, upon
whom every eye was fixed. He affected a perfect care-
lessness of manner ; but it was easy to perceive that he
was full of restlessness and inquietude under an icy
surface. I saw the current eddying beneath. Next him
was Mr. O'Gorman, who carried a most official look as
secretary to the Catholics of all Ireland, and seemed to
realize the beau-ideal of Irish self-possession. I should
observe by the way, that Mr. O'Gorman was of great
use in London in controlling that spirit of disputation
among the deputies to which Irishmen are habitually
prone, and which it required the perfect good humour
and excellent disposition of the learned functionary to
assuage.

The house began to fill about eight o'clock. The as-
pect of the members was not in general very imposing.
Pew were in full dress, and there was little, in the gene-
ral demeanour of the representatives of the people, which
was calculated to raise them in my reverence. This

D 2

36 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

absence, or rather studious neglect of ceremony, is,
perhaps, befitting an assembly of the " citizens and bur-
gesses in parliament assembled." I remarked that some
of the members were distinguished for their spirit of
locomotion. The description of " the Falmouth the
heavy Falmouth coach," given by a jocular secretary of
state, had prepared me to expect in a noble Lord a more
sedentary habit of body ; but he displayed a perfect
incapacity to stay still, and was perpetually traversing
the house, as if he wished, by the levity of his trip arid
the jauntiness of his movements, to furnish a practical
refutation of ministerial merriment.*

After some matters of form had been disposed of,
Mr. Brougham rose to move, on the behalf of the Asso-
ciation, that counsel should be heard at the bar of the
house. I had seen Mr. Brougham several years before,
and immediately observed a great improvement in his
accomplishments as a public speaker. Nature has not
perhaps, been very favourable to this very eminent
man in his merely physical configuration. His person
is tall, but not compact or well put together. There is
a looseness of limb about him, which takes away from
that stability of attitude which indicates the fixedness
of the mind. His chest is narrow he wants that bulk
which gives Plunket an Atlantean massiveness of form,
mentioned by Milton as the property of a great states-
man. The countenance of Mr. Brougham wants sym-
metry and refinement. His features are strong, but
rather wide. He has a Caledonian prominence of bone.
His complexion indicates his intellectual habits and is
" sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought." It seems

* The noble lord was the late Lord Nugent ; the jocular secretary,
Mr. Canning.

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 37

smoked by the midnight lamp. His eyes are deeply sunk,
but full at once of intensity and meditation. His voice
is good it is clear, articulate, and has sufficient melody
and depth. He has the power of raising it to a very
high key, without harshness or discord, and when he
becomes impassioned, he is neither hoarse nor shrill.
Such is the outward man ; and if he has defects, they
are not so numerous or so glaring as those over which
the greatest orator of antiquity obtained a victory.

In his ideal picture of a public speaker, Homer repre-
sents the most accomplished artificer of words as a per-
son with few if any personal attractions. The character-
istics of Brougham's oratory are vigour and passion.
He alternates with great felicity. He possesses in a high
degree the art of easy transition from impetuosity to de-
monstration. His blood does not become so over-heated,
as to render it a matter of difficulty for him to return to
the tone andlanguage of a familiar discourse the preva-
lent tone and language the House of Commons. A man
who cannot rise beyond it, will never make a great figure ;
but whoever cannot habitually employ it, will be accoun-
ted a declaimer, and will fall out of parliamentary favour.

Mr. Brougham's gesture is at once senatorial and
forensic. He uses his arms like an orator, and his
hands like a lawyer. He employs great sweep of
action, and describes segments of circles in his impas-
sioned movements; here he forgets his forensic habi-
tudes : but when he is either sneering or sophisticating,
he closes his hands together with a somewhat pragma-
tical air, or uniting the points of his forefingers, and
lifting them to a level with his chair, embodies in his
attitude the minute spirit of Nisi Prius. If he did this
and nothing else, he would hold no higher place than

38 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the eternal Mr. Wetherall in the house. But what,
taken apart, may appear an imperfection, brings out
the nobler attributes of his mind, and by the contrast
which it presents, raises his better faculties into relief.

Of the variety, nay vastness of his acquirements it is
unnecessary to say anything : he is a kind of ambu-
latory encyclopaedia, and brings his learning to bear
upon every topic on which he speaks. His diction is
highly enriched, or, if I may so say, embossed with
figures executed after the pure classical model; yet
there are not perhaps any isolated passages which are
calculated to keep a permanent residence in the recol-
lection of his hearers. He does not venture like
Plunket into the loftiest regions of eloquence ; he does
not wing his flight among those towering elevations
which are, perhaps, as barren as they are high ; but he
holds on with steady continuity in a very exalted
course, and never goes out of sight. His bursts of
honest vehemence, and indignant moral reprobation,
are very fine. He furnished, upon the night on which
I heard him, an admirable exemplification of this com-
manding power. I allude to his reply to Mr. Peel upon
the charges made against Mr. Hamilton Rowan.*

The Secretary for the Home Department is said to
have delivered upon this occasion one of the best
speeches which he ever pronounced in parliament. I

* One of the most distinguished names among the patriots and
reformers of Ireland in the troubled times that preceded the Union ; a
man of fortune and family, singular energy of character, benevolence of
disposition, and extraordinary personal strength and bravery. In 1794
he was the object of a state-prosecution. The story of his escape from
prison is as romantic as an incident in a novel of Dumas. An able
sketch of Mr. Hamilton Rowan appeared subsequently in the New
Monthly Magazine, from the pen of Mr. W. H. Curran.

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 39

own that he greatly surpassed my expectations. I was
prepared from the perusal of his speeches, and the
character which I had heard of him, for a display of
frigid ingenuity, delivered with a dapper neatness and an
ironical conceit. I heard the late Mr. Curran say, that
" Peel was a mere official Jackanapes," and had built
my conceptions of him upon a phrase which, valueless
as it may appear, remained in my memory.

But I was disabused of this erroneous impression by
his philippic against the Association. I do not mean
to say that Mr. Peel has not a good deal of elaborate
self-sufficiency. He is perpetually indulging in enco-
miums upon his own manliness and candour and cer-
tainly there is much frankness in his voice and bearing
but any man who observes the expedients with which
he endeavours to effect his escape from the grasp of
some powerful opponent, will be convinced that there is
a good deal of lubricity about him. He constantly
advances arguments of the fallacy of which he cannot
fail to be conscious, and which would be a burlesque
upon reasoning if they were not uttered from the
Treasury Bench. As a speaker, he should not be
placed near Brougham, or Canning, or Plunket,
although he rises far beyond that mediocrity to which
in Ireland we are in the habit of condemning him.
His language is not powerful, but it is perfectly clear
and uniformly correct. I observed, indeed, that his
sentences were much more compact and unbroken, and
their several parts better linked together than those
of Mr. Brougham ; but the one evolves his thoughts in
a lengthened and winding chain, while the other (having
a due fear of the parenthetical before his eyes) presents
an obvious idea in a brief and simple form, and never

40 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

ventures to frame any massive or extended series of
phrase.

His gesture is, generally speaking, exceedingly appro-
priate, and if I found any fault with it, I should censure
it for its minute adherence to grace. His hands are
remarkably white and well formed, and are exhibited
with an ostentatious care. He stands erect, and, to
use a technical expression employed by French dancers,
"aplomb." This firmness of attitude gives him that
appearance of determination, which is wanting perhaps
in Mr. Brougham. I do not like his physiognomy as
an orator. He has a handsome face, but it is suffused
with a smile of sleek self-complacency, which it is impos-
sible to witness without distaste. He has also a trick of
closing his eyes, which may arise from their weakness,
but which has something mental in its expression;
and however innocent he may be of all offensive pnr-
pose, is indicative of superciliousness and contempt. I
doubt not he found it of use in Ireland among the
menials of authority, and acquired this habit at the
Castle.

In one, the best passage in his speech, and I believe
the best he ever uttered, he divested himself of those
defects. Upon the moral propriety of his attack upon
Mr. Hamilton Rowan it is unnecessary to say anything.
The misfortunes of that excellent gentleman ought not
to have been pressed into the service. After every
political convulsion, a Lethe should be permitted to
flow upon the public mind, and a sin of thirty years'
standing ought not only to be pardoned but forgotten.
Mr. Peel, however, could not resist the temptation of
dragging upon the stage a man whose white hair should
hide every imperfection upon his head. Laying aside

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 41

all consideration of the generosity evinced by Mr. Peel
in the selection of the topic, it must be acknowledged
that he pronounced his invective with great and very
successful force. He became heated with victory, and,
cheered as he was repeatedly by his multitudinous
partisans, turned suddenly towards the part of the
house where the deputies were seated, and looking tri-
umphantly at Mr. O' Conn ell, with whom he forgot for
a moment that he had been once involved in a personal
quarrel, shook his hand with scornful exultation, and
asked whether the house required any better evidence
than the address of the Association to " an attainted
traitor."

The phrase was well uttered, and the effect as a piece
of oratory was great and powerful. But for the want
of moral dignity I should say that it was very finely
executed. We hung down our heads for a moment,
and quailed under the consciousness of defeat. But it
was only temporary. Mr. Brougham was supplied with
various facts of great importance on the instant, and
inflicted upon Mr. Peel a terrible retribution.

His reply to the minister was, I understand, as
effective as his celebrated retort upon the Queen's letters.
He showed that the government had extended to
Mr. B-owan conspicuous marks of favour, and re-
proached Mr. Peel with his want of nobleness in
opening a wound which had been so long closed, and
in turning the disasters of an honourable man
into a rhetorical resource. He got hold of the good
feeling of the house. Their virtuous emotions, and
those high instincts which even the spirit of party
cannot entirely suppress, were at once marshalled upon
his side. Conscious of his advantage, he rushed upon

42 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

his antagonist, and hurled him to the ground. He
displayed upon this occasion the noblest qualities of
his eloquence fierce sarcasm, indignant remonstrance,
exalted sentiment, and glowing elocution. He brought
his erudition to his aid, and illustrated his defence by
a quotation from Cicero, in which the Roman exten-
uates the faults of those who were engaged on Pompey's
side. The passage was exceedingly apposite, but was
delivered, perhaps, with too dolorous and lacrymatory
a note. A man should scarcely weep over a quotation.
But altogether the reply was magnificent, and made
the minister bite the dust. With this comfortable
reflection we left the house.

It is not, of course, my intention to detail every
circumstance of an interesting kind which occurred in
the course of this political excursion. From a crowd
of materials, I select what is most deserving of mention.
I should not omit the mention of a dinner given to
the deputies by Mr. Brougham. He invited us to his
house upon the Saturday after our arrival, and gave
the Irish embassy a very splendid entertainment.
Some of the first men in England were of the
party. I had never witnessed an assemblage of so
much rank, and surveyed with intense curiosity the
distinguished host and his illustrious guests. It is
unnecessary to observe, that Mr. Brougham went
through the routine of convivial form with dignified
facility and grace. It was to his mind that I
directed my chief attention, with a view to compare
him in his hours of relaxation, with the men of
eminence with whom I had conversed in my own
country. The first circumstance that struck me, was
the entire absence of effort, and the indifference

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 43

about display. I perceived that he stretched his
faculties out, after the exhaustion of professional and
parliamentary labour, in a careless listlessness ; and,
if I may so say, threw his mind upon a couch.

Curran, Grattan, and Bushe, were the best talkers
I had ever witnessed. The first (and I heard a person
make the same remark in London) was certainly the
most eloquent man whose conversation I ever had an
opportunity of enjoying. But his serious reflections
bore the character of harangue; and his wit, with all
its brilliancy, verged a little upon farce. He was so
fond indeed of introducing dialogue into his stories,
that at times his conversation assumed the aspect of
a dramatic exhibition. There was, perhaps, too much
tension of the intellect in those master-pieces of
mirth and pathos, in which he appeared to be
under the alternate influence of Momus and of
Apollo.

The conversation of Mr. Grattan was not of an after-
dinner cast. You should have walked with him among
the woods of Tinnahinch, and listened to his recollec-
tions of a better day by the sound of the lulling and
romantic waters of those enchanting groves, in which,
it is said, he studied the arts of elocution in his youth,
and through which he delighted to wander in the
illuminated sunset of his glorious age. It was neces-
sary that his faculties should be thrown into a swing
before they could come into full play. He poured out
fine sentiments in glittering epigrams. His mind
became antithetical from continued habit, but it was
necessary that it should be thrown into excitement to
bring it into action. It was in sketches of character
that he excelled ; but you should give him time and

44 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

leisure for the completion of his miniatures. Bushe
But I am deviating from my theme.

To return to Mr. Brougham, he is, perhaps, more
negligent and heedless of what he says, than any of
these eminent persons to whom I have alluded, and
flings his opinions into phrase without caring into what
shape they may be moulded. I remember to have read
in an article in the Edinburgh Review, upon Curran's
life, that eminent men in England never make any
effort to shine in conversation ; and I saw an illustra-
tration of the remark at Mr. Brougham's table. He
did not tell a single story except, indeed, that he
mentioned a practical joke which had been played upon
Joseph Hume, who takes things au pied de la lettre,
by passing some strange uncouth person upon him as
Mr. O'Connell. The latter sat between the Dukes of
Devonshire and Leinster. It was the place of honour,
and the learned gentleman filled it without airs or
affectation. In all his intercourse with the great in
London, I remarked that he comported himself in a
manner perfectly becoming his character and station
in his own country. I was glad to find that, unlike
Sir Pertinax, " he could stand straight in the presence
of a great man." The attention of the company was
rery much fixed upon him. But he spoke little.

I remember Mr. Moore telling me an anecdote of
Mrs. Siddons, which is not unillustrative of the scene.
A large party were invited to meet her. She remained
silent, as is her wont, and disappointed the expectations
of the whole company, who watched for every syllable
that should escape her lips. At length, however, being
asked if she would have some Burton ale, she replied,
with a sepulchral intonation, that "she liked ale

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 45

vastly." * To this interesting remark the display of
her intellectual powers was confined.

I do not think that Mr. O'Connell upon this occasion
gave utterance 'to any more profound or sagacious
observation. Nearly opposite to him sat Sir Francis
Burdett and Mr. Lambton.f The latter seemed to
me to watch Mr. O'Conuell with a very unremitting
vigilance. He hardly spoke himself. His air is foreign
he is full of intelligence, and looks like a picture by
Murillo of a young Spanish Jesuit who has just com-
pleted his noviciate. At the other end of the table sat
the celebrated Mr. Scarlett, who, at English Nisi Prius,
is facile princeps. I thought I could perceive the wile
of a lawyer in his watchful and searching eye

" He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the thoughts of men/'

His smile, too, was perhaps a little like that of Cassius.
He said little altogether there was not as much alert-
ness in the dialogue as in the champagne. The Duke
of Sussex seemed to me the only person who exhibited
much hilarity of spirit. There is a good deal of buoy-
ancy in the temperament of his Royal Highness. He
speaks with great correctness and fluency : is perfectly
kind and affable, and laughs with all his heart at his
friend's jokes as well as at his own. If the Duke of
Sussex were our Lord Lieutenant (as I hope he yet
may be), he would put us into good humour with each
other in a month. I would substitute Oberon's whistle

* I remember mentioning this anecdote to the late Mr. Maturin, who
said, " The voice of Mrs. Siddons, like St. Paul's bell, should never toll
except for the death of kings." A.

t The late Earl of Durham.

46 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

for Alecto's horn.* I should like to hear the honest
and cordial laugh of the Duke of Sussex at an aggre-
gate levee of Catholics and Protestants at the Castle.
I should like to hear the echoes of St. Patrick's hall
taking up the royal mirth in a long and loud rever-
beration. What might, peradventure, be an excess of
vivacity in a gentleman, would be condescending plea-
santry in a prince.

I understood at Mr. Brougham' s, that it was intended
to give a public dinner to the Catholic deputies, at
which the leading advocates of emancipation were to be
present. Much preparation was made for this festival
of liberality, but it was afterwards conceived that it
would be more judicious upon the part of the friends of
religious liberty, not to provoke their antagonists into
a reaction, which it was thought likely might be pro-
duced. The idea was abandoned ; but, in order to give
the deputies an opportunity of expressing their senti-
ments in public, the British Catholics held a general
meeting at the Freemasons' Hall.

The Duke of Norfolk was in the chair. The assembly
was not as numerous as I had expected it was in a
great measure composed of Irish. Many persons were
deterred from attending by the title of the meeting,
which seemed to confine it to Roman Catholics. In
consequence of the impression that Protestants were
not invited to assist in these proceedings, few of the
parliamentary supporters of emancipation attended.
Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, who sat next to the chairman,
was almost the only English Protestant of distinction
whom I observed at the meeting. I believe, however,

* In Wieland's Oberon, at the sound of a magic whistle, laughter is
instantaneously produced, and merriment takes the place of strife. A.

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 47

that an anxiety to hear Mr. O'Connell induced a great
number of the literary men attached to the periodical
and daily press to attend.

Mr. O'Connell appeared to me extremely solicitous
about the impression which he should produce, and
prepared and arranged his topics with unusual care. In
public meetings in Ireland, he is so confident in his
powers, that he gives himself little trouble in the selec-
tion of his materials, and generally trusts to his emo-
tions for his harangues. He is on that account occa-
sionally desultory and irregular. But there is no man
more capable of lucid exposition, when he previously deli-
berates upon the order in which he should array the
topics upon which he intends to dwelL He undertook,
on this occasion, the very laborious task of tracing the
progress of the penal code, and epitomised in some
measure the history of his country. For the first hour
he was, perhaps, a little encumbered with small details;
but when he advanced into the general consideration of
the grievances under which the great body of the people
are doomed to labour when he painted the insolence
of the dominant faction when he shewed the effects of
the penal code brought to his own door he seized with
an absolute dominion upon the sympathies of his
acclaiming auditors, and poured the full tide of his
own emotions into their hearts.

I did not greatly heed the results of Mr. O'Connell's
oratory upon the great bulk of his audience. Many a
big drop compounded of heat and patriotism of tears
and of perspiration, stood upon the rude and honest
faces that were cast in true Hibernian mould, and were
raised towards the glory of Ireland with a mixed ex-
pression of wonder and of love.

48 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

I was far more anxious to detect the feeling produced
upon the literary and English portion of the audience.
It was most favourable. Mr. Charles Butler, near
whom I happened to sit, and whom I should be disposed
to account a severe but excellent critic, was greatly
struck. He several times expressed his admiration
of the powers of the speaker. The applause of such a
man is worth that of a " whole theatre of others."
Mr. Coke also, whose judgment is, I understand, held
in very great estimation, and who has witnessed the
noblest displays of parliamentary eloquence, intimated
an equally high opinion.

Immediately under Mr. O'Connell there was an array,
and a very formidable one, of the delegates from the
press. They appeared to me to survey Mr. O'Connell
with a good deal of supercilious distaste at the opening
of his speech, and although some amongst them per-
severed to the last in their intimations of national
disrelish, and shrugged their shoulders at " Irish elo-
quence/' the majority surrendered their prejudices to
their good feelings, and ultimately concurred in the
loud plaudits with which Mr. O'Connell concluded his
oration. It occupied nearly three hours and a half.
Mr. O'Hanlon succeeded Mr. O'Connell. He spoke
well, but the excitation produced by Mr. O'Connell, the
lateness of the hour, and the recollections of dinner,
were potent impediments to rhetorical effect.

Mr. Sheil rose under similar disadvantages. He cast
that sort of look about him, which I have witnessed in
an actor when he surveys an empty house. The echo
produced by the diminution of the crowd drowned his
voice, which being naturally of a harsh quality, requires
great management, and, in order to produce any orato-

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 49

rical impression, must be kept under the control of art.
Mr. Sheil became disheartened, and lost his command
over his throat. He grew loud and indistinct. He also
fell into the mistake of laying aside his habitual cast of
expression and of thought, and in place of endeavour-
ing to excite the feelings of his auditory, wearied them
with a laborious detail of uninteresting facts. He
failed to produce any considerable impression excepting
at the close of his speech, in which, after dwelling upon
the great actions which were achieved by the Catholic
ancestors of some of the eminent men around him, he
introduced Jean of Arc prophesying to Talbot the
obscuration of his illustrious name, and the exclusion
of his posterity from the councils of his country.*
I should not omit to mention the speech delivered by

* To make this intelligible, it is necessary to quote the passage (a very
striking one) as we find it in the report of Mr. Sheil's speech pub-
lished in the Dublin Evening Post :

" Let me put an imaginary case, for the imagination sometimes lends
its light to reason, and the heart may solve a difficulty by which the
intellectual powers may be embarassed. If, when hot from the field of
victory, and with all his glory about him, the great Talbot had been
instructed in the fate that should befal his posterity ; if she whom the
superstition of the time had endowed with a preternatural foresight, if
the celebrated woman who checked the tide of English triumph if Joan
of Arc had exclaimed to Talbot ' The time shall come when that
country tliat showers honours on your name, shall stamp degradation upon
the posterity to which that name shall be transmitted, your children
shall be driven from the senate of their country the councils of England
shall be closed against them a brand shall be struck upon their foreheads
the robe of your nobility shall be trailed in the mire, and the lustre

of your coronet shall be tarnished' would not the sword have dropped

from Talbot's hand ? If he had believed in the denunciation, would he
not have flung his spear away ? How would his cheek have burned if
he had heard that his sons would be laden with degrading disqualifica-
tions," &c.

VOL. II. E

50 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Lord Stourton at this meeting. It was easy to collect
from his manner that he was not in the habit of address-
ing a large assembly, but the sentiments to which he
gave utterance were high and manly, and becoming a
British nobleman who had been despoiled of his rights.
His language was not only elegant and refined, but
adorned with imagery of an original cast, derived from
those sciences [with which his lordship is said to be
familiar.

Some of the deputies dined with him after the meet-
ing. They were sumptuously entertained. I had now
become more habituated to the display of patrician
magnificence in England, and saw the exhibition of its
splendour without surprise. Yet I confess that at Nor-
folk-house, where the Duke did Mr. O'Connell, Lord
Killeen, and others of our deputation the honour to
invite them, and in compliment to our cause, brought
together an assemblage of men of the highest rank and
genius in England, I was dazzled with the splendour
and gorgeousness of an entertainment to which I had
seen no parallel. Norfolk-house is one of the finest in
London. The interior, which is in the style prevalent
about eighty years ago in England, realizes the notions
which one forms of a palace. It was indeed occupied
at one time by some members of the royal family ; and
the Duke told us that the late King was born in the
room in which we dined.

"We passed through a series of magnificent apart-
ments, rich with crimson and fretted with gold. There
was no glare of excessive light in this vast and seem-
ingly endless mansion; and the massive lamps which
were suspended from the embossed and gilded ceilings,
diffused a shadowed illumination, and left the distance

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 51

in the dusk. The transition to the great chamber where
the company were assembled, and which was glowing
with light, presented a brilliant and imposing contrast.
Here we found the Duke of Norfolk, surrounded by
persons of high distinction. Amongst the company
were the Dukes of Sussex, Devonshire, and Leinster,
Lord Grey, Lord Fitzwilliam, Lord Shrewsbury, Lord
Donoughmore, Lord Stourton, Lord Clifford, Lord
Nugent, Lord Arundel, Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. But-
ler, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Blount, Mr. Denman, and
other persons of eminence and fame.

The Duke of Norfolk came forward to meet us, and
gave us a cordial and cheerful welcome. This amiable
nobleman is distinguished by the kindness and goodness
of his manners, which bespeak an excellent and unas-
suming spirit, and through all the political intercourse
which we had with him upon the great question, in
which he feels so deep an interest, manifested a shrewd
sound sense, and a high and intense anxiety for the
success of the great cause of religious liberty, from
which very beneficial results have already ensued. He
has been very instrumental in effecting a junction
between the English and Irish Roman Catholics, and
has thus conferred a great service upon both.

We were received by him with the most gracious and
unaffected urbanity. I was struck with the perfect
freedom from authoritativeness which characterised most
of the eminent men who were placed about me. There
is among the petty aristocracy of Ireland infinitely more
arrogance of port and look than I observed among the
first men of the British empire. Certain of our colonial
aristocracy are far more bloated and full-blown with a
notion of their own importance. The reason is obvious

E 2

52 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

The former rest in security upon their unquestionable
title to respect. Their dignity fits them like an accus-
tomed garment. But men who are raised but to a small
elevation, on which they hold a dubious ground, feel it
necessary to impress their consequence upon others by
an assumption of superiority which is always offensive,
and generally absurd. Lord Fitzwilliam was the person
with whom I was disposed to be most pleased. This
venerable nobleman carries, with a grey head, a young
and fresh heart. He may be called the old Adam of
the political world ; and England might well exclaim to
her faithful servant, in the language of Orlando,

" Oh, good old man, how well in thce appears
The constant service of the antique world !
Thou art not for the fashion of these times
When none will sweat but for promotion."

It is impossible to look upon this amiable and dignified
patrician of the olden stamp, without a feeling of affec-
tionate admiration for his pure and distinguished patriot-
ism and the warm love of his country, which lives (if I
may so say) under the ashes of age, and requires but to
be stirred to emit the flashes of its former fire. The
natural apathy incidental to his time of life appears
habitually to prevail over him ; but speak to him of the
great interests of the empire speak to him of that
measure which at an earlier period he was delegated by
his sovereign to complete speak to him of Ireland, and
through the dimness that loads his eye, a sudden illu-
mination will break forth.

For Ireland he entertains a kind of paternal tender-
ness. He reverted with a Nestorian pride to the period
of his own government ; and mentioned that he had
preserved the addresses which he had received from the

THE CATHOLIC DEPUTATION. 53

Roman Catholic body as among the best memorials of
his political life. That he should live long enough to
see the emancipation of the Irish people, seemed to be
the wish nearest to his heart.* It does one good it is
useful in a moral point of view, to approach such a per-
son as Lord Fitzwilliam, and to feel that there is in
public men such a thing as a pure and disinterested
anxiety for the benefit of mankind, and that the vows
of all politicians are not, whatever we may be disposed
to think, " as false as dicers' oaths." In describing the
impression produced upon me by Lord Fitzwilliam, I
have mentioned the result of my observation at Mr. Pon-
sonby's, where the deputies afterwards met him, as well
as at Norfolk-house.

Lord Grey also dined at Mr. Ponsonby's, where I had
a better opportunity of noting him. He is somewhat
silent and reserved. It is the fashion among tories to
account him contemptuous and haughty ; but I cannot
coincide with them. He has, indeed, a lofty bearing,
but it is not at all artificial. It is the aristocracy of virtue
as well as rank. There is something uncompromising,
and perhaps stern as well as inflexible, in his aspect.
Tall, erect, and collected in himself, he carries the
evidences of moral and intellectual ascendancy im-
pressed upon him, and looks as if he knew himself to be,
in the proudest sense which the poet has attached to
the character, not only a great but an honest man.
And why should he not look exactly what he is? Why
should he not wrap himself in the consciousness of his
political integrity, and seem to say, " meet virtute me in-
volvo," while so many others, who were once the com-
panions of his journey, and who turned aside into a

* The prayer was granted. Lord Fitzwilliam lived until 1833.

54 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

more luxuriant road, in taking a retrospect, as the close
of life is drawing near, of the mazy course which they
have trod, behold it winding through a rich and cham-
paign country, and occasionally deviating into low but
not unproductive declivities.

This eminent man, in looking back from the point of
moral elevation on which he stands, will trace his path
in one direct and unbroken line through a lofty region
which has been barren of all but fame, and from which
no allurement of ease, or of profusion, could ever induce
him to depart. Lord Grey has a touch of sadness upon
him, which would look dissatisfaction to a placeman's
eye ; but there is nothing really morose or atrabilious
in his expression. He has found that sorrow can unbar
the palaces of the great, as well as unlatch the cottages
of the lowly.* His dear friend and near ally is gone
his party is almost broken. He has survived the death,
and, let me add, the virtue of many illustrious men,
and looks like the lonely column of the fabric which he
sustained so nobly, and which has fallen at last around
him. It is not wonderful that he should seem to stand
in solitary loftiness, and that melancholy should have
given a solemn tinge to his mind.

* The allusion is perhaps to Lord Erskine, who died in November,
1823, little more than a year before the period referred to in the text.

55

THE TABINET BALL.

[JUNE A>T> SEPT. 1826.]

A LARGE district of Dublin, commonly called " The
Liberty/' is occupied by the manufacturers of tabinet.
This part of the city exhibits at all times a disagreeable
aspect. It is a labyrinth of narrow lanes, composed of
old and crazy houses, and is choked with nastiness of
every kind. Even when its enormous population is in
active employment, the senses are shocked with much
odious circumstance ; but when labour is suspended, as
is often the case, and the inhabitants are thrown out of
employment, a spectacle of wretchedness is presented in
this quarter of the Irish metropolis, of which it would
require the genius of Mr. Crab be for the delineation of
misery to convey any adequate picture.

In the last month the manufacturing class have been
without occupation or food. I passed, not very many
days ago, through the district in which they chiefly
reside, and do not recollect to have ever witnessed a
more distressing scene. The streets may be said to
have swarmed with want. With starvation and despair
in their countenances, and with their arms hanging in
listlessness at their sides, hundreds of emaciated men

56 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

stood in groups at every corner. They gaped on every
person of the better class who chanced to pass them,
with the vacant earnestness of famine ; and when the
equipage of some pampered and vain-glorious citizen
rolled by, it was painful to observe in the expression of
their faces the dumb comparison with their own condi-
tion, which was passing through their minds. The
doors of the houses lay wide open, and, lighted up as
they were with the new and brilliant sunshine of May,
afforded an insight into the recesses of internal wretched-
ness.

Their wives and children were seen huddled up to-
gether, with scarcely a shred of raiment upon their
discoloured and emaciated limbs. Their beds and
blankets had been transferred to the pawnbrokers ; and
of their furniture, nothing but the mere fixtures re-
mained. The ashes round the hearth seemed to be of
a week's standing ; and it was easy to perceive that the
few potato-skins, scattered about the floor, were the
relics of a repast of no very recent date. Silence in
general prevailed through these receptacles of calamity,
except that now and then I heard the wailing of a child,
who called with a feeble cry for bread. Most of these
houses of affliction were deserted by the men, who
stood in frightful gatherings in the public way. But
here and there I observed the wan but athletic father
of a family, sitting in the interior of his hovel, with his
hands locked upon his knee, surrounded by his children,
of whose presence he appeared to be scarcely conscious,
and with his wild and matted hair, his fixed and
maddening eye, his hard and stony Up, exhibiting a,
personification of despair ; and, if I may say so, look-
ing like the Ugolino of "The Liberty." Whatever

THE TABINET BALL. 57

may be the faults of the Irish character, insensibility to
distress is not amongst them. Much substantial and
practical commiseration was exhibited among the higher
orders for the sufferings of the unfortunate manufac-
turers, and various expedients were adopted for their
relief.

It was, among other devices of benevolence, sug-
gested to the Marchioness of Wellesley, that a public
ball at the Rotunda would be of use, and accordingly a
"Tabinet Ball," under the auspices of that fair and
newly ennobled lady, was announced. The notice was
given in order to afford the young ladies in the country
an opportunity of coming to town, and the llth of
May was fixed for the metropolitan fete. Peremptory
orders were issued at the Castle, that no person should
appear in any other than Irish manufacture. A great
sensation was produced by what in such a provincial
town as Dublin may be considered as an event. Crowds
of families nocked from all parts of the country ; and if
any prudential grazier remonstrated against the ex-
pense of a journey to the metropolis, the eyes of the
young ladies having duly filled with tears, and mamma
having protested that Mr. O' Flaherty might as well
send the girls to a convent, and doom them to old-
maidenhood for life, the old carriage was ordered to
the hall-door, and came creaking into town, laden with
the rural belles, who were to make a conquest at "the
Tabinet Ball."

The arrival of the important day was looked for with
impatience, and many a young heart was kept beating
under its virgin zone at the pleasurable anticipation.
In the interval much good was accomplished, and Terp-
sichore set the loom at work. Every milliner's shop

58 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

gave notes of profuse and prodigal preparation. At last
the llth of May arrived, and at about ten o'clock the
city shook with the roll of carriages hurrying from all
quarters to the Rotunda.

Not very long ago, Doctor Brinkley, the astronomer,
took the noise of a newly-established manufactory for
the indication of an approaching earthquake ; and if he
had not been removed since then from the contempla-
tion of the stars, he would, in all likelihood, have taken
the concussion of the Tabinet Ball-night, for the earth-
quake itself. The love of dancing is not among my
addictions, and it is the tendency of most persons of
my profession to set up as a kind of spurious Childe
Harolds upon occasions of this kind ; but as the object
of the ball was national, and I was solicitous to take a
close survey of Lord Wellesley and his Transatlantic
bride, I resolved to join the festive gathering, which
charity and its amiable patroness had assembled.

The Rotunda, where the ball was given, is a very
beautiful building, erected, I believe, by Sir William
Chambers, and is one of those models of pure architec-
ture with which Dublin abounds.* Upon entering it,
how different was the scene from that with which it

* The history of the Eotunda IB the history of Dublin ; an edifice
applicable to all uses it serves the ever-varying purposes of fashion and
politics, of all sects, parties, and circles. It shifts its hues like the
chameleon : to-day the Protestant blue, the popular green to-morrow
each prevailing colour of the day, whether in opinion or in silks. A
conventicle in the morning, illuminated with outlandish eloquence; a
ball-room at night, radiant with native beauty. It rings alternately
with the sharp notes of controversy, the demagogue's roar, and the laugh
of girls. In short, it is the common stage of all performers before the
Irish public, the missionary, the lecturer, the charlatan, the coquette, the
auctioneer, the agitator, the viceroy.

THE TABINET BALL. 59

was associated, and how strong a contrast was presented
between the gorgeous and glittering spectacle before
me, and that which I have endeavoured to describe.
My mind still retained some of those mournful reflec-
tions which the contemplation of misery had produced ;
and when I found myself surrounded with a blaze of
intense and brilliant illumination, and encompassed by
a crowd, glittering with splendour, youth, and beauty,
and moving in measure to exhilarating music, the
naked and half-famished wretches, whom I had seen so
recently, rose like phantoms in my memory, and my
imagination went back to the abode of starvation, and
to "the house of woe/' I did not, however, permit
these melancholy reflections to lay any permanent hold
upon me ; and indeed the recollection that pleasure
was made in this instance to minister to the relief of
sorrow, should have reconciled a person of much more
ascetic quality of mind than I am to a participation in
the enjoyments of so brilliant a scene.

I question, whether in London itself, however it may
surpass our metropolis in wealth and grandeur, more
splendour in alliance with good taste could readily be
displayed. There was an immense assemblage of young
and beautiful women, dressed in attire which, instead of
impairing, tended to set off the loveliness of their
aspects, and the symmetry of their fine forms that
sweetness and innocency of expression which charac-
terises an Irish lady, sat upon their faces, modesty,
kindness, and vivacity played in their features, and
grace and joyousness swayed the movement of limbs
which Chantrey would not disdain to select for a model.

While I was looking upon this fine spectacle with
some feeling of national pride, it was announced that

60 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Lord Wellesley and the Marchioness were about to
enter the room. There was a sudden cessation in the
dancing, and the light airs to which the crowd had
been moving, were exchanged for the Royal Anthem.
I had never observed the Marquis so nearly as to
form a very accurate notion of him, and his beautiful
American I had never seen. I felt a strong curiosity
about her. A Yankee, and a Papist, turned into a
Vice- Queen ! ! There was something strange in this
caprice of fortune, and I was anxious to see the person
with whom the blind goddess had played so fantastic a
freak.*

I stood in no little suspense, when it was announced
that the noble pair were making their triumphant entry
into the Rotunda. Followed by a gorgeous retinue of
richly decorated attendants, the Viceroy and his consort
advanced towards the immense assembly, who received
them with acclamation. She was leaning upon his arm.
He seemed justly proud of so fair a burthen. The
consciousness of so noble a possession had the effect
upon him which the inspirations of genius were said to
have produced upon a celebrated actor, and he looked
" six feet high," compact and well knit together, with
great alertness in his movements, and with no further
stoop than sixty winters have left upon him, with a
searching and finely irradiated eye, and with cheeks
which, however furrowed, carry but few traces of the
tropics.

The victor of Tippoo Saib, and the conqueror of
Captain Rock, entered the Rotunda. I am not quite
sure that there was not a slight touch of melo-dramatie

* Lady Wellesley was the widow of an American gentleman of the
name of Patterson.

THE TABINET BALL. 61

importance in his air and manner; and with a good
deal of genuine dignity, it occurred to me that there
was something artificial and theatrical in his entrance
upon a stage, in which ephemeral majesty was to be
performed. It was said by Voltaire of a real monarch,
that no man could so well perform the part of a king.
" Le role de Roi," is a phrase which, amounting to a
truism, loses its force perhaps when applied to a lord-
lieutenant. Lord Wellesley seemed to me to personate
his sovereign with too elaborate a fidelity to the part,
and to forget that he was not in permanent possession
of the character upon a stage which was under the
direction of such capricious managers, and that he
must speedily relinquish it to some other actor upon
our provincial boards.

He his unquestionably a man of very great abilities ;
a speaker of the first order ; a statesman with wide and
philosophic views, who does not bound his prospects by
any artificial horizon. He has great fame as a politician,
and has the merit of having co-operated with Mr.
O'Connell in the pacification of Ireland. With these
intrinsic and substantial claims to renown, it is strange
that he should rely so much upon the gewgaws of a
spurious court for his importance, and be in love with
the raree-show of vice-regal honours. A throne sur-
mounted with a gorgeous canopy of gold and scarlet
was placed at the extremity of the room for his recep-
tion; and to this seat of mock regality he advanced
with his vice-queen, with a measured and stately step.
When he had reached this place of dignity, his suite
formed themselves into a hollow square, and excluded
from any too familiar approach the crowd of spectators
that thronged around.

62 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

A sort of boundary was formed by the lines of
aide-de-camps, train-bearers, and poursuivants of all
kinds. I presumptuously advanced to the verge of this
sacred limit, when I was checked by an urchin page of
about ten years of age, who, dressed in flaming scarlet,
and with his epaulets dropping in woven gold to his
heels, seemed to mock the consequence of his noble
master, and with an imperious squall he enjoined me
to keep back.* I obeyed this Lilliputian despot, and
retired one or two paces, but stood at such a distance
as to enable me to survey -the hero and heroine of the
scene. The Marquis was dressed in a rich uniform,
with a profusion of orders. He wore white pantaloons,
with short boots fringed with gold, and with tassels of
the same material. The Marchioness was dressed in
white tabinet, crossed with a garland of flowers. She
struck me at once not only as a very fine, but dignified
woman. Nobody would have suspected that she had
not originally belonged to that proud aristocracy to
which she has been recently annexed. She had nothing
of " La Bourgeoise Parvenue." I was surprised at the
gracefulness with which she executed her first curtsy,
and the ease with which, in recovering from it, she
brought herself back to the altitude of stateliness which
I presume had been prescribed to her for the night.
Her figure appeared to me to be peculiarly well propor-

* The urchin-pages in scarlet have long since disappeared from the
pomps and vanities of Dunlin Castle; little, indeed, of the Lord Lieu-
tenancy remains but the Lord Lieutenant himself

" A king in jest, only to swell the scene."

There is perhaps very little to be said for the viceregal form of govern-
ment, and it ought no doubt to be swept away; but " shorn of its beams"
as it now is, it has become useless and absurd ; for what can excite
ridicule more than a court without splendour, a pageant without pomp ?

THE TABESTET BALL. 63

tioned. Her arms and shoulders, though less suited to
Hebe than to Pomona, are finely moulded ; and of her
waist I may justly say, that it is,

" Fine by degrees and beautifully less."

Her features approach to the classical model. They
have nothing of that obtuseness which in Ireland is
frequently observable in countenances animated by the
vivacity of youth, but which lose their charm when the
vividness of the eye becomes impaired, and the bloom
of the cheek has begun to pass away. The profile of
Lady Wellesley is at once marked and delicate. Her
complexion has not that purity and milkiness of colour
which belongs to Irish beauty, but it is not, perhaps,
the less agreeable from having been touched by a
warmer sun. Her brows are softly and straightly pen-
cilled ; her cheeks are well chiselled, and an expression
of permanent mildness sits upon her lips, which I do
not regard as artificial and made up.

Yet I think it too unvarying and fixed. Her smile
is so sedate and settled, that although I had several
occasions to observe her, her countenance seemed for
hours not to have undergone the least change of expres-
sion. Some allowance ought to be made for this immo-
vable serenity, which it may be proper upon a state
occasion to assume ; but I am inclined to think that
this monotonous suavity is not the mere smile of elabo-
borate affability, but upon a face less beautiful would
amount to an eternal simper. If I were called upon to
point out among the portraitures of fictitious life, an
illustration of the Marchioness of Wellesley, I do not
think that with reference to her air, her manners, the
polish and urbanity of her address, and the placidity of

64 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

her expression, I could select any more appropriate than
the English heroine of Don Juan

" The Lady Adeline Amundeville."

The Marquis and the co-partner of his honours, and
sole tenant of his heart, having made their obeisance
to the company, seated themselves upon the throne ;
and I cannot help saying, that when I saw them sur-
rounded with all the superfluous circumstances of sove-
reignty, and going through the mock-regal farce, as if
the whole business were not an idle and most unsub-
stantial pageant, I felt pain at this voluntary exposure
to the ridicule of their political opponents, who seemed
to gather round for no other purpose than to pay their
derisive homage.

Upon what pretence these airs of royalty were assumed,
I could not even guess. The gentry of Dublin were
assembled at the instance of Lady Wellesley, to
contribute to the promotion of Irish manufacture.
This was assuredly no fit occasion for the "unreal
mockery" of evanescent pomp. I question whether
tinder such circumstances, it would be proper in a
genuine king to indulge in regal parade. But it
appears to me to be out of all keeping, and to amount
to no venial sin against good taste on the part of the
mere shadowy representative of a sovereign, to invest
himself in monarchical state, and all " the attributes to
awe and majesty."

The deportment of His Excellency tended very
much to enhance the burlesque of the whole business.
He affected all the nonchalance of a person accustomed
to royalty. His attitude was studiously careless, while
that vivid physiognomy, of which, with all his practice

THE TABINET BALL. 65

in courts, he is not the absolute master, betrayed his
anxiety for the production of effect. One of his legs
was thrown heedlessly over the other, to indicate that
he was perfectly at his ease ; but at the same time, his
piercing and sagacious eye seemed to search amidst the
crowd for that reverence both to his person and to his
office, to which he surmised, perhaps, that he possessed
a somewhat disputable claim.

I was not a little amused when his Excellency's eyes
encountered those of that redoubted champion of
ascendancy, the Keverend Sir Harcourt Lees. My
English readers, who have only known Sir Harcourt
through the medium of his loyal celebrity, and who
have never seen the prodigy himself, may be disposed
to think Sir Harcourt a gaunt and dreary man, with a
fanatical and desolate look, and with that grim aspect
of devotion which characterised the warlike propagators
of Protestantism under the Cromwellian standard. But
nothing could be more remote from the plain realities
of Sir Harcourt than this beau ideal of that distinguished
personage. As he was the next person in importance
to Lord AVellesley, it may not be inapposite to say a
word or two about him.

For many years he was unknown to the public, and
among his own immediate friends was regarded as a
harmless and somewhat simple man who could discuss
a bottle of claret much better than a homily, a daring
fox- hunter and a good-humoured divine, who would
have passed without any sort of note, but for certain
flashes of singularity which occasionally broke out, and
exhibited points of character at variance with his gene-
ral habits. "What was the astonishment of all Dublin,
when it was announced that this plain and unobtrusive

VOL. II. F

66 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

lover of the field was the author of a pamphlet filled
with the most virulent and acrimonious matter against
the religion of the country, and which almost amounted
to a call on the Protestant population to rise up in
arms and extirpate Popery from the land. Sir Harcourt
became a public man.

I had never seen him before the publication of his
book, and was a good deal surprised to find that all
this uproar had been produced by a little lumpish man,
who rather looked like a superannuated jockey than a
divine, with an equestrian slouch in his walk, and the
manger in his face, and with a mouth the graceful con-
figuration of which appeared to have been formed by
the humming of that stable melody with which the
application of the curry-comb is generally accompanied.
After looking at this singular figure which the tutelary
genius of the church had chosen for its residence, I
gave up all my belief in physiognomy, and renounced
Lavater for ever.

But I feel that I am digressing. Enough to say, that
Sir Harcourt's success in his first essay against Popery
led to other achievements in controversy, and that he
was at length recognised beyond all dispute as the most
appropriate champion of the Irish church. His whole
character may be summed up in a single sentence of
Swift : " He hath been poring so long upon Fox's Book
of Martyrs, that he imagines himself living in the reign,
of Queen Mary, and is resolved to set up as a knight-
errant against Popery."

The meeting between the Marquis Wellesley and
this celebrated person at the Tabinet Ball excited all
my attention. Seated upon the throne, with his
clenched hand resting upon his thigh, and his marked

THE TABINET BALL. 67

.and diplomatic visage protruded in all the intensity of
expression for -which it is remarkable, the most noble
and puissant Marquis shot his fine and indignant eyes
into the soul of his antagonist; while Sir Harcourt,
with a half waggish and half malevolent aspect, blend-
ing the grin of an ostler with the acrimony of a divine,
encountered the lofty look of the chief governor of
Ireland with a jocular disdain, and gave him to under-
stand that a man of his theological mettle was not to
be subjugated by a frown.

The next person in importance to Sir Harcourt was
his Grace the Duke of Leinster. With the highest
rank, and a magnificent estate, and with a name to
which so many national recollections are painfully but
endearingly allied, it must be confessed that the first
peer in Ireland, notwithstanding so many claims upon
the public respect, is less sensibly felt, and produces an
impression less distinct and palpable, than the renowned
champion of the Church. The one is at the head of
the nobles, and the other of the Protestants, of Ireland ;
and however insane the alacrity of Sir Harcourt may
appear, there is something in enthusiasm, be it genuine
or affected, which is preferable to the inactive honesty
of the Duke.

The latter is descended from the first Norman settlers
in Ireland. The Fitzgeralds gradually became attached
to the country, and were designated as the ultra-Irish,
from the barbarous nationality, of which, in the course
of that series of rebellions dignified by the name of Irish
history, they gave repeated proof. They were of that
class of insurgents who earned the ignominious appel-
lation of " Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores." I recollect to
have seen their pedigree upon a piece of mouldering

F 2

68 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

parchment, which was produced at a trial in Waterford,
connected with the royalties of Dromona, and had been
brought by a messenger from the Tower of London.
It was a very remarkable document. The words,
" attainted," or " beheaded," were annexed to the
names of more than half the members of this illustrious
house.

The love of Ireland appears to have been a family
disease, and to have descended to the unfortunate Lord
Edward as a malady of the heart, although the san-
guinary record of the virtues of his house did not
include his name ; but it was impossible to look upon
that memorial of the scaffold, without recalling the
memory of the celebrated person whose failure consti-
tuted so large a portion of his crime. It may be readily
imagined, that when the Duke of Leinster returned to
Ireland, after having attained his full age, in order
to take possession of his estates, he was an object
of great national interest. The associations connected
with his name had already secured him the partialities
of the country. His frank and open air, the unaffected
urbanity of his manners, the kindness and cordiality
which distinguished his address, and an expression of
dignified good nature in his physiognomy, brought
back the recollection of Lord Edward, and gave to his
young kinsman a share in the affectionate respect with
which the guilty patriotism of that chivalrous noble-
man is regarded in Ireland.

Few were sufficiently rash to desire that the Duke of
Leinster should engage in an enterprise so little likely
to be successful, as that which cost Lord Edward his
life. Almost all men had become sensible of the hope-
lessness of such an undertaking; but it was expected

THE TABIXET BALL. 69

that, while the chief of the house of Fitzgerald would
abstain from any criminally adventurous speculation,
he would, notwithstanding, place himself at the head of
the popular party, that he would rally round him the
friends of the country, that he would extend to good
principles the authority of his rank, and rescue the
spirit of Irish whiggism from the scoff with which it
had been the fashion in the higher circles to deride it.
A scope of political usefulness was unquestionably given
to the Duke. It would have been easy for him to
raise up a legitimate and salutary opposition to the
abuses of the local government, which were at that
time excessive, and to have awed the viceregal des-
potism of the Duke of Richmond into moderation.
There was enough of public virtue left among the
aristocracy to turn it to good practical account, if
there had been any man capable of giving it a direc-
tion ; and of all others, the young Duke of Leinster,
from his paramount rank and hereditary station, seemed
to be calculated to take the honourable lead.

"What might not a Duke of Leinster, with even ordi-
nary abilities, and with an active, steadfast, and ener-
getic mind, accomplish in this country? He might
place himself at once in the front of a vast and ardent
population, and become not only the protector of the
Catholics, but the director of the whole body of liberal
Protestants in Ireland. The distinctions of sect would,
under his influence, be merged in the community of
country, and all religious animosities give way to a
comprehensive and philosophical sentiment of nation-
ality. He would be the point of contact, at which the
contending factions might meet and cohere together.
His rank and property would attract the men who pro-

70 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

fess illiberal opinions as much, out of fashion as out of
prejudice ; while the democratic party would find in his
name and blood a sufficient guarantee for his fidelity to
Ireland.

It is difficult to conceive a more lofty or a more
useful part, than that which it would be easy for a
Duke of Leinster to perform; and the facility with
which this ideal picture would be realized induces the
more regret that a person, surrounded with such
numerous opportunities of doing good, should have
omitted the splendid occasions thrown by birth and
fortune in his way. He has voluntarily consigned
himself to oblivion.

After having sold his house in Dublin, the Duke
retired to the woods and solitudes of Carton. There
he buried himself from the inspection, and gradually
dropped out of the notice, of the country. Having a
turn for mechanics, he provided himself with a large
assortment of carpenter's tools, and beguiled the
tedium of existence with occupations by which his
arms were put into requisition. There is not a better
sawyer in the county of Kildare. As you wander
through the forests on his demesne, you occasionally
meet a vigorous young woodman, with his shirt tucked
up to his shoulders, while he lays the axe to the trunk
of some lofty tree, that totters beneath his stroke. On
approaching, you perceive a handsome face, flushed
with exercise and health, and covered with perspiration.
Should you enter into conversation with him, he will
throw off a few jovial words betwixt every descent of
the axe ; and, if he should pause in his task for breath,
will hail you in the tone of good-humoured fellowship.
He sets to his work again ; while you pursue your path

THE TABINET BALL. 71

through the woodlands, and hear from the ranger of
the forest that you have just seen no less a person than
his Grace himself.

In the midst of these innocent employments the
Duke of Leinster passes away a life which ought to be
devoted to higher purposes. It is with the utmost
difficulty that he is occasionally dragged out of his
retreat, and consents, some once a year, to fill the chair
at a public meeting. But he takes no part in the
deliberations or the measures of popular assemblies, for
which he entertains an unaffected distaste, and hurries
back to his domestic occupations again.*

At the Tabinet Ball (from which I have made a wide
digression, into somewhat too serious, if not extraneous
matter), it was easy to observe that the Duke of
Leinster, surrounded as he was by all the provincial
rank and wealth of Dublin, was not an object of much
public concern. As he mingled among the various
circles in the saloon, some person, who chanced to
know him, just mentioned, "There is the Duke of
Leinster ;" while his Grace, neither attracting, nor
caring for any further notice, passed on without heed
to some other part of the room. How different an

* It ought, however, to be mentioned, in justice to the Duke of
Leinster, that upon two occasions of the greatest interest and moment he
conspicuously performed his duty to the public. In the very same room
where he is here represented as a subordinate personage to a crazy Orange
parson, his Grace presided in the beginning of 1829 over a most impor-
tant meeting of the liberal nobiHty and gentry of Ireland, assembled to
press upon the Government the necessity of a prompt and complete
settlement of the Catholic question. Subsequently, when the country
was disturbed by the unfortunate movement for the Repeal of the Union,,
the Duke again came forward, and attached his name to the memorable
protest, called the Leinster Declaration.

72 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

impression would he have produced, had he taken the
more active and intrepid part to which his fortunes
appeared to invite him ! The mock regality of a lord-
lieutenant would fade at once before him. The repre-
sentative of a nation would stand superior to the dele-
gate of the king.

But in drawing this contrast, it would be an injustice
not to add, that after all, the Duke of Leiuster has a
right to make a selection of happiness for himself. He
has no ambition. Nature has not mixed that mounting
quality in his blood, which teaches men to aspire to
greatness, and makes them impatient of subordination.
If he is deficient in energy, and is without the tempera-
ment necessary for high enterprise, he is adorned by
many gentle and, perhaps, redeeming virtues. His life
is blameless in every domestic relation; and if he is
not admired, he is prized, at least by all those who are
acquainted with him. He looks, and I am convinced
he is, an exceedingly happy man ; and has at all events
one of the chief means of felicity, in the amiable and
accomplished woman to whom he is united.

The Duchess of Leinster accompanied her husband.
Although an Englishwoman she prefers Ireland to her
own country, and has never seduced her husband into
absenteeism. Lady Morgan should make a heroine of
her. Few persons are more esteemed and loved than
she is. There is a charm in her kind and good-hearted
manners, which engages the partiality of those about
her, and converts that respect which is due to her
station, into regard. I have never seen any lady of her
distinction in society so wholly free from assumption.
There is the enchantment of sincerity in her sweet
demeanour, which, in the manners of the great, is above

THE TABINET BALL. 73

every other charm. She is not beautiful; but there is
about her,

Something than beauty dearer,

That for a face not beautiful does more
Than beauty for the fairest face can do."

It was amusing to observe the contrast between the
unostentatious affability of her Grace, and the factitious
loftiness of the other titled patronesses of the ball.
Lady Wellesley had nominated a certain number of
vice-presidents of the dance, who were directed to
appear with a head-dress of ostrich-feathers, by way of
distinguishing them from the ladies to whom that high
function had not been confided. Accordingly, about a
dozen heads, stuck with a profusion of waving plumage,
lifted their nodding honours above the crowd. These
reminded me of the Mexican princesses in prints of
Montezuma's court, which I have seen in the History
of New Spain. The absence of any surperfluity of
attire did not make the resemblance less striking. It
was pleasant to observe the authoritative simper with
which they discharged their high-plumed office, and
intimated the important part which they were appointed
to play in this fantastic scene. Upon the vulgar in the
crowd, such as the wives of rich burghers, of opulent
attorneys, and of stuff-gown lawyers, they looked with
ineffable disdain ; and even to the fat consorts of the
aldermen they scarcely extended a smile of supercilious
recognition.

Busily engaged among the latter, I observed Mr.
Henry Grattan, the second son of the great Irishman,
of whom it may be so justly said;

- Clarum et venerabile nomen
Gentibus, et niultum nostrae quod proderat urbi.

74 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Hia father took from the earliest period the most
anxious care of his mind, upon which he set a high
value. The great patriot saw in the mind of his son
what Doctor Johnson calls " the latent possibilities of
excellence;" and he was anxious, as well from a
national as from a parental feeling, to bring them forth.
Mr. Henry Grattan, while in college, enjoyed the
double advantage of an excellent system of public
education, and of having a domestic pattern of the
admirable in eloquence and in patriotism perpetually
before his eyes. His career in the University was
highly honourable; and in the Historical Society,
which, if it were not a school of genuine oratory, was
at all events a useful nursery of declamation, obtained
universal plaudits. Having taken his degrees with
credit, he entered the Temple, and went through the
usual masticating process, by which the British youth
are initiated into the mysteries of the law. He became,
while in London, a member of the society called " The
Academics," which holds debates upon all the entities,
and distinguished himself by a force and strenuousness
of elocution to which that debating association was
little accustomed. Upon his return to Dublin, after
having gone through his two years' noviciate, and eaten
his way to the Bar, he dedicated himself to political
rather than to forensic pursuits. His illustrious father
had been unkindly, and, in my judgment, ungratefully
treated by the Irish Catholics. Mr. Henry Grattan
resented these injuries with more asperity than it was
perhaps judicious to have expressed, and involved him-
self in some personal altercations, which are now
happily forgotten. Having a turn for composition, but
not being sufficiently versed in the arts of vituperative

THE TABINET BALL. T5>

insinuation, lie published one or two articles in the
" Evening Post/' of too undisguised a kind, against the
Duke of Richmond, which produced a prosecution.
The great aggravation of his satire was its truth.

Until his father's death, his son did not come
directly forward upon the political stage; but when
that great man had been deposited in Westminster
Abbey (neither Grattan nor Curran are buried in Irish
earth),* his son offered himself as a candidate for the
representation of the city of Dublin. It ought to have
descended to him as an inheritance. He appeared on
the hustings with the incomparable services of his
illustrious father as his advocate. He combined with
the legitimate claims derived from so illustrious a
name, great personal merit. Yet so high ran the pre-
judices of party, that Master Ellis, whose only title
arose from his hostility to the Catholics, was preferred
to him, and the services of the best and most lofty-
minded Irishman that ever lived were shamefully for-
gotten.t Painful as such a defeat unquestionably was,

* At the period when this was written the ashes of Curran still
remained in Paddington Church, where he was buried; but they were
removed in 1834 to Dublin, and deposited in the popular cemetery of
Glasnevin, near that city, beneath a monument of native granite. The
word "Curran" is the only inscription on the stone; like the "Dryden"
on the plain slab in Westminster Abbey, a sufficient epitaph for so great
a man.

f- These observations remind us of a striking incident of the
election referred to. Mr. Henry Grattan had the honour of being
recommended to the citizens of Dublin by Mr. Plunket, who proposed
him in a speech of great energy and beauty. A short extract from that
speech, ending with a very happy application of a passage in Pope's prologue
to Cato, it will not be amiss to quote from the newspapers of the day.

" I do not now talk to Protestant or Catholic. It would be profanation
of the dead to make any distinction. I come here to talk to Ireland,

76 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

he did not relinquish the object on which his heart was
set, and at the last election he was returned for the
city. I observed him actively engaged in this part of
his vocation at the Tabinet Ball. No man laughed
more loudly at certain reminiscences from "Joe Miller/'

which Alderman was pouring, as original anecdotes,

into his ear. The new and graceful pleasantry of the
worthy corporator appeared to throw Mr. Grattan into
convulsions of merriment, though now and then, in the
intervals of laughter, I could perceive an expression of
weariness coming over his face, and that effort over the
oscitating organs, with which an incipient yawn is
smothered and kept in.

and never could I perform a duty more serviceable to my countrymen
than to implore them not to degrade themselves by trampling on the
ashes of their father and benefactor. And I tell my learned friend, that
I could not offer him a sincerer mark of friendship than by advising him
to retire from this contest. How I should compassionate his feelings*
when paraded through those streets, his memory would return to the
days when that great man, now no more, passed along those same streets,
between the files of his countrymen, who were resting on their arms in
admiration of his virtue.

' Even when proud Caesar midst triumphal cars,
The spoils of conquest, and the pomp of wars,
Ignobly vain, and impotently great,
Showed Borne her Cato's figure drawn in state,
As her dead Father's reverend image passed,
The pomp was darkened and the day o'ercast,
The triumph ceased, tears gushed from every eye,
The world's great Master passed unheeded by.'"
The cheering that followed is described as most enthusiastic, the effect
having been doubtless much heightened by the felicitous employment of
the word " Master" in place of the " victor" of the original."

77

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE.

[OCTOBEB, 1827.]

To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine.

SIR, I am a Jesuit, residing at the establishment
of the society at Clongowes Wood. It was recently
stated in the House of Commons that there was no
such thing as a disciple of Loyola in Ireland ; and an
honourable gentleman is reported to have expressed
a wish that one of the order should be produced at
the Bar of the House, to gratify the curiosity of the
members who had never seen the prodigy.

I am surprised that Mr. Peel, who had had several
intimate communications with Dr. Kenny, the Irish
Provincial, did not take the opportunity of setting
Mr. Hobhousc right, and assure him that he had
looked upon as complete a specimen of the monster
as Mr. Hobhouse could desire to have exhibited, to
the horror 'of Sir Thomas Lethbridge, in the House
of Commons. Perhaps Mr. Peel's silence on the
subject of his intercourse with Dr. Kenny might have
arisen from a suggestion of his quondam friend, Sir

78 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

John Copley, that he had incurred the penalties of a
pramunire in holding any communication with one of
the Pope's body-guards, as the Jesuits were not un-
happily designated by the King of Prussia, when they
were disbanded by Ganganelli.

The conversation touching " the Society of Jesus,"
in the House of Commons, has induced a supposition
that no establishment of the order exists in Ireland.
This is a signal mistake, and the Jesuits themselves felt
humiliated at the obscurity in which they have been
permitted to remain. For the purpose of rescuing
themselves from oblivion, they bethought themselves
of an expedient by which the public attention should
be directed to them, and determined to apply to Prince
Hohenloe to make Clongowes Wood the theatre of a
miracle which should surpass all the other wonders of
that extraordinary person. It had indeed been a
source of annoyance to our ingenuous fraternity, that
of the multitude of prodigies which had taken place,
not one had been performed 'through the intervention
of a Jesuit, or in connexion with Clongowes Wood;
and this indisposition on the part of the German
Thaumatourgos (to apply to him the designation of
St. Gregory) was referred to a jealousy in the Prince
of a greater miracle accomplished by the Jesuits than
any which he has yet achieved; for it was justly
remarked amongst us, that the very existence of our
order in the heart of the British empire was a far
greater wonder than Miss Hohenloe D 's resto-
ration to agility in the labyrinths of a quadrille.*

* The case of Miss Maria Lalor, a lady of Maryborough, was still
more remarkahle, as the reality of the miracle wrought was attested by
an authority no less eminent than James Doyle, Catholic Bishop of

THE EXOBCISM OF A DIVINE. 79

"We Avere somewhat slow in our recognition of the
marvellous powers of Prince Hohenloe, and used occa-
sionally to refer to the tomb of Abbe Paris, in illus-
tration of the wonders of the Simon Magus of Bamberg.
But when it was understood that the Pope had bestowed
upon Prince Hohenloe the walking-staff of St. Francis
Xavier, we not only changed our tone, but, considering
the Prince as associated in some degree with the order,
we decided on applying to him to perform a new
miracle, which should bring Clongowes Wood into
general notice, and surpass all his former prodigies.
The interval which had elapsed since the Prince had
vouchsafed a proof of his interest in the councils of
Heaven afforded a farther reason for applying to him,
as it was manifest that his reputation for omnipotence

Kildare and Leighlin, the author of the eloquent letters of J.K.L. Oo
the 6th of March, 1823, the Bishop applied to His Serene and Very
Reverend Highness Prince de Hohenlohe at Bamberg on behalf of Miss
Lalor, who had been troubled with a dumb devil for six years and a half.
An answer was returned addressed to the lady in person, and the morn-
ing of the 10th of June, at the hour of nine o'clock, was fixed for her
miraculous cure. The Bishop, hi apprizing the priest of Maryborough
of the arrangement, took care to remind him of the difference of longi-
tude between that place and Bamberg. " As the meridian of Bamberg,**
he wrote, " differs from that of Maryborough by an hour and about
twelve minutes, you can direct the mass to be celebrated at a little before
eight on the 10th of June." With such mathematical accuracy, it would
have been strange indeed if there been a contre-tems. That the result
was most complete and satisfactory we have the evidence of no leas a
personage than Bishop Doyle himself, in a pastoral letter on the subject
addressed on the 22nd June to the clergy and faithful of his diocese. In
that remarkable document he used these works : " We announce to you,
dearest brethren, with great joy, a splendid miracle which the Almighty
God hath wrought in our own days, in the midst of ourselves; restoring
miraculously Miss Maria Lalor to the perfect use of her speech, of which
for six years and five months she had been totally deprived," &c.

80 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

was losing ground; and in the opinion of the fair
frequenters of the Asylum Chapel and the Bethesda,
he was greatly surpassed by Ferdinand Mendez Kater-
felto Woulfe, who, having been a member of the
Propaganda in Rome, came recommended by certain
etymological associations to the Ladies' Hibernian
Auxiliary Bible Society.

These considerations induced Father Kenny, our
superior, to make a special request, in the name of
the order, to Prince Hohenloe ; and, as an inducement,
he was assured that the society would hereafter con-
tribute to the expenses of his canonization, by sending
Counsellor O'Connell, as special counsel, to oppose
" the Devil's advocate " at Rome ; and I should not
omit to add, to the honour of Mr. O'Connell, that he
has since engaged to do so, having stipulated, by way
of professional remuneration (although he is not accus-
tomed to such special fees), that a thousand masses
shall be said for the purgation of his soul for all his
misdoings at Nisi Prius.

The particular line of prodigy was not prescribed to
Prince Hohenloe. Not wishing to put limits to his
genius for the wonderful, Father Kenny left it entirely
to himself to choose what manner of miracle he should
perform, whereby the glory of our order should be
diffused, and even Surgeon Crampton,* the Prince's

* Mr. Crampton wrote an exceedingly clever tract on Prince Hohen-
loe's miracles. The whole faculty was enraged by " the Prince's cures,"
as they were familiarly called. The doctors were completely supplanted
by the Prince. Instead of invoking Mr. Crampton or Mr. Colles (the
Podalirius and Machaon of Dublin) for the remedy of a heart-ache, every
pretty papist sent up an orison to the Prince. Jlr. Crampton vented his
anger in a book; Mr. Colles displayed it in a sarcasm, in which his
chirurgical disdain for saints and physicians (the latter order surgeons

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 81

main antagonist (and no wonder, when lie superseded
him at the pillow of his pretty patients), should be put
down. In the interval between the transmission of
Father Kenny's despatches to Bamberg, and the arrival
of the Prince's answer, we amused our leisure by
indulging in conjectures as to the sort of miracle which
it would probably please his Highness to perform.
Some suggested that he would restore Sir Harcourt
Lees to his senses; others that he would make Sir
George Hill resign his place :* one imagined that he
would make a wit of Leslie Foster, a dunce of Lady
Morgan, a blunderer of the Chief Justice, or a prodigal
of Sergeant Lefroy.

At length a letter arrived from Bamberg : the whole
fraternity was summoned together, and in the midst of
a deep hush of expectation the precious document was
unfolded. I shall not transcribe the whole of it, as it
ran to considerable length. The Prince stated that he
had yielded to the application of Father Kenny, but
had been a good deal at a loss to determine what kind
of miracle he should achieve. He had at first a notion,
of silencing one Jack Lawless at the Catholic Associa-
tion ; but this, he found, it was even beyond his powers
to accomplish. Various other prodigies of the same
hold exceedingly cheap) was combined. Being asked if he believed that
a miracle had been performed upon Miss Stuart, he replied in the affir-
mative to a priest by whom the question had been put. The advocates
of the Prince boldly appealed to his evidence. Much wonder was created
among the faculty; and, as the Prince's interests and theirs were
at variance, Mr. Colles was brought to task by the College of Physicians
and being interrogated respecting his admission that a miracle had been
performed, he confessed the fact, and added, that " nothing less than a
miracle could have saved her from the Doctors." A.

* Sir George Hill held the lucrative office of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland
It was a sinecure and abolished in 1830.

VOL. II. G

82 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

character presented themselves, and, at length, finding
himself in a state of irresolution, he determined to
leave it to a dream to suggest what course he should
adopt. Accordingly he fell into a profound sleep,
having been previously engaged in reading Southey's
Book of the Church, and received in a vision an
intimation of the prodigy which he should work. The
part of his letter immediately relating to the miracle
(of which, in this letter to the Editor of the New
Monthly Magazine, I have undertaken, for the honour
of Prince Hohenloe, and of the Society of Jesuits, to give
some account) I think it not out of place to copy.

" I was," said the Prince, " in imagination, trans-
ported to your city of Dublin, where I beheld the
object on which my influence with heaven is to be dis-
played. I saw riding through a certain street called
Dame-street, and coming from the Castle, a heretic
ecclesiastic, who was seated upon a mettlesome horse,
and whom, from his arrogant air, whereof I had heard

even in Bamberg, I recognised to be Dr. .* At

first I saw nothing but the outward man, because that
supernatural vision, by which I am enabled to discover
evil spirits, was not unsealed, nor the film of corpora-
lity instantaneously removed. I saw a priested antic,
of small but well-proportioned dimensions, and in his
equestrian attitude and bearing strongly resembling
certain prints of one Dr. Syntax, which I have seen
when transported in vision to the city of London, in
passing along the shops thereof. Yet it was only in
attitude, in the fashion wherewith his legs were thrust
into his stirrups, that he bore any very marked affinity

* It is hardly necessary to fill up the blank with the name of Magee,
then in the plenitude of his intolerance, and Archbishop of Dublin.

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 83

to the seeker of the picturesque ; for the expression of
the Doctor's face was wholly different, and did not con-
vey the same character of insanity.

" It was the extravagance of sacerdotal pride, that
displayed itself in flashes of wildness, which broke every
moment from his eyes. The latter were by no means
destitute of intelligence ; but, bright as they -w ere with
thought, still the expression of arrogance predominated
over that of acuteness, and every look and gesture indi-
cated a self-sufficiency carried to an excess amounting
almost to the delirium of conceit. Everything about
him denoted flippancy and pertness. A light ecclesias-
tical hat was perked with such a nicety and airiness
upon the apex of his head, that it studiously, and of
malice prepense, left room for his haughty forehead to
display itself. The powder with which his hair was
lightly sprinkled was fresh and delicate, while a
slender queue depended gracefully between his shoul-
ders, and even this petty appendage exhibited a cox-
combical inclination. His neckcloth was knotted with
precision, and assisted by its stiffness in upholding him
in that neatness of bearing which he carefully observed.
A jerkin, which fitted his well-turned person with an
admirable adaptation, was closely buttoned to the top,
and gave his figure a spruce and compact air.

" In trotting along, he was busily engaged in watch-
ing the passengers, and observing what quantity of
deference he received from them, .and though obviously
an object of joke rather than respect, he imagined that
every eye was fixed upon him in veneration ; of which
I saw no evidence, except in the face of a certain syco-
phant, who has declared that he adored him, and who
is understood to have intimated that the prophet Enoch

G 2

84 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

upon his white horse was but a type of Dr. . The

efforts made by this very fantastic little personage at
dignity were truly ridiculous ; for his horse seemed re-
solved to interfere with his determination to be majestic;
at every step on the rough pavement the rider was
thrown to a considerable height from his saddle, while
his arms were horizontally extended, and his legs, in
obedience to the impulse, swung irregularly up and
down as he bumped along. Still the perpetual springs
which he gave denoted the workings of a restless mind,
and typified his aspiring spirit.

" Such was the external man ; but on a sudden my
mind's eye was opened by the finger of heaven, and the
spiritual interior of the man was disclosed to me. I
saw a sight which made me start back with horror, and
recoil from the spectacle. A legion of evil spirits had
taken possession of him, and seemed to vie with each
other for the ownership of the interior man. The
demons of pride, ambition, avarice, envy, and ingra-
titude, with many other fiends, seemed to be tenants in
common within him. I was seized with such a terror
at the sight of so many demons of peculiar hideous-
ness, that, like Clarence in one of your Shakspeare's
plays, (to which I refer because Mr. Charles Butler, of
Lincoln's Inn, has lately discovered that Shakspeare was
a good Catholic*) I was roused from my vision by its very

* The passage alluded to occurs in Mr. Butler's Memoirs of ihe
English Catholics. The subject is curious enough to justify a quotation.
After remarking that he had long entertained a suspicion that Shakspoare
was a Roman Catholic, he adds " Not one of his works contains the
slightest reflection on popery, or any of its practices, or any eulogy on
the Reformation. His panegyric on Queen Elizabeth is cautiously
expressed, whilst Queen Catherine is placed in a state of veneration, and
nothing can exceed the skill with which Griffith draws the panegyric of

THE EXORCISM OP A DIVINE. 85

horrors, and ' starting waked/ On opening my eyes I
saw your letter before me, and perceived that my dream
was a hint from above, that I should select the Doctor
for the purposes of exorcism."

It is unnecessary to quote any more of the Prince's
letter, which proceeded to order that the Doctor should
be seized and carried down to Clongowes Wood, where,
through his influence, the " legion of foul fiends"
should undergo a process of expulsion. It also con-
tained various directions for effecting the capture of the
unhappy patient, and the conduct of the ceremony,
which were punctually fulfilled, and will appear in the
detail of the miraculous operation. The letter having
been read, it was resolved that the project suggested
by the Prince should be carried into immediate exe-
cution.

The first step was to seize the Doctor, and carry him,
by a pious fraud, to Clongowes Wood. To this r end
four able-bodied lay-brothers were selected. They had
formerly been in the service of Captain Rock, and had
been recently converted from the ways of rapine and

Wolsey. The ecclesiastic is never presented by Shakspeare in a degrad-
ing point of view. The jolly monk, the irregular nun, never appear in
his drama. Is it not natural to suppose that the topics on which, at
that time, those who criminated popery loved so much to dwell, must
have often solicited his notice, and invited him to employ his muse upon
them, as subjects likely to engage the favourable attention both of the
sovereign and the subject ? Does not his abstinence from them justify a
suspicion that a popish feeling withheld him from them ? Milton made
the Gunpowder Conspiracy the theme of a regular poem, Shakspeare is
altogether silent on it."

In No. 248 of that valuable publication, Notes and Queries, these
opinions of Mr. Butler have been lately controverted, and extracts are
"there given from Shakspeare's historical plays, from which conclusions
in favour of his protestantism are ingeniously drawn.

86 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

sin. Having betaken themselves to devotion, they
were admitted as members of the society, and it being
a canon of our order that every man's genius should
be permitted to take its natural bent amongst us,
Father Kenny directed that they should be entrusted
with the office of effecting the abduction of the
Doctor.

I was chosen to command the party, and adopted the
following expedient. I wrote to the unfortunate divine
that I was a member of the Society of Jesuits, and was
anxious to renounce the errors of the Romish church.
I farther stated that his apprehensions of assassinatiou
were too well founded ; and that, if he permitted me to
wait upon him in the dusk of the evening, I would
disclose a plot against his life, as diabolical as that
which was directed against Lord Redesdale by the
Papists, and of which his Lordship had communicated
the fact, but not the particulars, to the House of Lords.
I received an immediate w answer, desiring me to wait
upon him at eight o'clock. I did so, having stationed
my four lay -brothers outside his door ; and being con-
ducted into the Doctor's study, was directed to wait his
coming. A single taper was all the light there. On
the table lay various tracts, in manuscript, in a forward
state of preparation for the press. One was entitled

" A vindication of Doctor against the charge of

Ingratitude, addressed to Lord Plunket." Another,
" Advice to Protestants to hire none but Orthodox
Shoeboys and Anti-Papistical Ladies' Maids." A third,
" The Wealth of the Irish Established Church in accord-
ance with the principles of the Gospel."

After a few minutes, the Doctor entered with an
eager and elastic step, and, laying aside his habitual

THE EXOKCISM OF A DIVINE. 87

loftiness of demeanour to his inferiors, proceeded at
once to state, that upon the succeeding Sunday my
recantation should be publicly celebrated: observing
that it was a great point to have secured a Jesuit in the
New Reformation, as almost all the converts were of so
low a description that it was impossible to conceal the
substantial discredit which they reflected on the Estab-
lishment. He proceeded then to interrogate me respect-
ing the plans of assassination, which had laid a great
hold upon his imagination.

I told him, " that various schemes for taking him off
had been devised at Clongowes Wood; that it was
through the influence of the Jesuits that a noble Lord
had put to him various questions respecting his former
opinions on Catholic emancipation, and, from the effect
which they were reported to have produced, it was
considered surprising that he could have survived such
formidable interrogatories : that an application had
been made to Lord Plunket to reproach him with his
ungrateful conduct, but that that nobleman disdained
to charge him with a breach of obligation ; that various
means of assassination had been devised, but that they
had been laid aside for a plan, upon the success of
which great reliance was placed, namely, that of
publishing a history of his early life, in order that the
public might compare his present demeanour with his
former condition of a spiritual upstart. I saw that this
intimation worked upon him, and proceeded to tell him
that the book was ready for publication at the " Register
Office," and that, unless he took immediate steps to
suppress it, it would appear the succeeding day. The
Doctor, without waiting to put on his fire-shovel hat,

88 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

rushed out of the room into the street. I precipitated
myself after him, and before he had gone five paces,
my assistants, who lay in wait, seized and made him
secure.

He had only time to exclaim with Scrub : " Murder !
robbery ! the Pope and the Jesuits ! " when I advanced,
and, in order to silence him, thrust the Athanasian
Creed, of which I had a copy in my pocket, down his
throat. A coach was waiting for us ; we hurried him
into it, and in a short time approached the lofty avenues
of Clongowes Wood. He, being gagged with the
Athanasian Creed, had not uttered a word; but when
he perceived that we were entering the famous estab-
lishment of the Jesuits, he was thrown into terrible
convulsions, and exhibited the paroxysms of demoniacal
possession. He shortly after fell into a swoon, of which
I was glad, as it rendered it easier to convey him to
the Chapel, where the whole brotherhood of Loyola
were assembled to receive us.

The carriage rolled rapidly along the lofty range of
trees, which had been planted many years before by the
former proprietor of Clongowes Wood, Mr. Wogan
Brown, whose cypresses, of all his groves, are the only
trees that now attend him. On reaching the castellated
entrance of the College, we were received by Father
Kenny, who, on observing the prize which we had
secured, was too well habituated to the rules of his
order to manifest any emotion; but looking into the
carriage, where the Doctor still lay in a swoon, and
holding a torch to his face, merely smiled, as the flashes
flickered over the countenance of the pale and fallen
champion of Protestant ascendancy. After gazing on

THE EXOKCISM OF A DIVINE. 89

the patient, he directed that he should be conveyed, for
the purposes of exorcism, to the Ghapel.

The whole congregation, which not only consisted of
the brethren of the society but of several visitors of
distinction, who had been invited to witness the miracle,
rose to receive us. The most prominent was Dr. Doyle.
"We slowly conveyed the possessed man to the steps of
the altar, and placed him immediately under the statue
of St. Ignatius, where he lay like Caesar at Pompey's
feet. No signs of returning animation appeared; but
this is not uncommon among possessed persons, until
the proper stimulants be applied. Father Kenny
ascended the pulpit, and in a sermon, remarkable for
ingenuity and erudition, expatiated on the power vested
in the Church of expelling demons ; and, independently
of the authority of Prince Hohenloe, demonstrated that
the conduct and character of the Doctor must be the
result of possession.

" What," exclaimed the preacher, " but an occupation
of his whole heart by the evil spirit of pride, can
account for the excess of arrogance into which he has
allowed himself to be carried ? "Who has ever seen him
at the Castle who has watched his haughty pontifical
aspect, his conscious gesture, and his authoritative
gait, as he paced through St. Patrick's Hall, and did
not feel that the devil of pride had hold upon this
overbearing and ambitious priest ? Not contented with
the opulence and honours already heaped upon him, he
aims at still higher distinctions, and in his visionary
aspirations beholds in perspective the throne of Becket,
and the glimmering towers of Canterbury itself. To
the same cause we must refer his haughty bearing,

90

which is without precedent, not only towards the
laymen who hold an intercourse with him, but to the
inferior clergy over whom he has any control.

It may, perhaps, be urged in answer to the suggestion
that he is possessed by the devil of pride, that devils
are not destitute of discretion. Thus, if a demon
really influenced his conduct, he would not have made
him appear in so ludicrous a light, as when he dressed
himself in London in a purple surtout before certain of
the great men of the realm : and acted such a part that
he was threatened with a committal, from which
nothing but the merciful suggestion of his unfortunate
disorder could have saved him. But, although it must
be owned that his conduct was preposterous, yet it
must not be concluded that upon that account he
could not have been under an infernal agency. It is
well known that the Doctor was so discomfited that he
was upon the point of doing himself bodily injury;
from which it is, perhaps, reasonable to infer that the
devil of pride made him demean himself in this wild
fashion, in order that he might tempt him to commit
suicide; but this he was probably prevented from
effecting by the counteraction of another devil, namely,
that of polemics, which, lest he should lose his chief
instrument for 'throwing the country into commotion,
reserved him for the composition of another incendiary
antithesis.

"Who will for a moment question that this last-
mentioned devil has possession of the Doctor's soul?
Who has mainly contributed to inflame the passions of
Catholics and Protestants? The Doctor. Who has
insulted the religion of the people, and wantonly cast

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 91

opprobrium upon the ancient and even now almost
universal creed of Ireland? The Doctor. Who has,
from the seat of his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, hallooed
on the Catholic priests and Protestant parsons to the
combat ? The Doctor. Who has disturbed the peace
of private life, made the religion of servants the test of
their fidelity, and carried his conduct to such extremes
as even to interfere with the rites of sepulture, and the
graves of Roman Catholics, almost offering profanation
to the newly dead? Again I answer, the Doctor.
And, let me add, that nothing, save the devil of polemics,
could have prompted him to outrages upon which the
very men who agree with him in his abstract principles
cannot refrain from pronouncing their condemnation.
But the two devils, the instances of whose influence I
have enumerated, are not the only proprietors of this
unfortunate man. The workings of the meanest of
devils are manifest in his life. What but the agency of
Mammon, could, in the midst of the recent public
distress, have closed his hand and shut his heart to the
cries and moans of the wretches who were suffering in
fever and in famine around him ?

In this strain Father Kenny continued for some time,
when the college clock struck one, the hour appointed
for the performance of the miracle, and, the preacher
descending from the pulpit, advanced towards the un-
happy possessed. He did not on this occasion employ
the ordinary form of exorcism, but, having a turn for
poetry, addressed the Doctor in rhyme, and began with
the first of the seven deadly sins :

" Fiend of pride, who deadliest art
Within the sacerdotal heart,

92 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Come forth, and unto mortal eyes
Appear in such befitting guise
Of bird or emblematic beast,
As may express this haughty priest,
A And his peculiar nature shew
In the name of the holy Hohenloe !"

This rhythmical adjuration having been pronounced, the
convulsions of the possessed man became terrific. He
started upon his legs, and, after divers wild contortions,
stood in a state of frightful catalepsy, with his eyes and
mouth open, and his limbs rigid and distended. For
some time the demon did not come forth; but the
exorcism having been repeated, and a sop dipped in
holy water having been applied, the possessed man
threw up the Athanasian Creed, which had remained in
his throat, covered with foam and froth of a poisonous
quality ; and immediately after a clap of thunder was
heard, and the demon flew out of the doctor's mouth.

At first we were so terrified that we were unable to
distinguish the shape and properties which Father
Kenny had commanded the evil spirit to assume as
symbolical of the character of pride by which the
doctor was possessed. When we had recovered in some
degree from our alarm, we saw the demon in the shape
of an infernal bird perched upon the doctor's head;
and we began to observe the type of the unhappy
gentleman's mind, which the attributes of the demon
were intended to convey. At first we could only per-
ceive one half the form of the spectre, while a cloud of
smoke was slowly dispersing from about it, and we
remarked the head and wings of an eagle, which we
considered as highly complimentary to the patient, and
indeed an act of justice to him ; but as the vapour

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 93

which shrouded the extremities rolled away, and the
whole demon was disclosed, we observed a turkey-cock's
tail expanded in ludicrous parade ; and however awful
the means by which the evil spirit had been ejected,
yet the contrast which was exhibited between the two
extremities of this fantastical apparition, and the strange
and ostentatious movement of conceit which was ob-
servable in the demon's tail, produced a loud burst of
merriment ; which was, however, speedily silenced by
the deep 'voice of the exerciser.

Father Kenny.

Say, Fiend of pride, infernal guest,

Late of the Doctor's soul possess'd,

"Wherefore to our eyes of earth

Com'st thou in shape to raise our mirth,

At the awful hour of one o'clock,

With eagle head, and tail of turkey-cock ?

Demon.

My eagle half proclaims the power
In intellectual heights to tower,
And shows the Doctor once did try
By noble means to rise on high ;
But when he rose, a meaner pride
Within his bosom did preside,
And of his consequence the motion
You see express'd in the antic notion
With which the tail of a turkey-cock
The Doctor's dignity doth mock.

, Father Kenny.

In the name of Hohenloe,
Ere back to Hell he let thee go,
I charge thee, Demon, tell me true
What thou hast made the Doctor do !

94 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Demon.

I made him play a thousand pranks,

For which I well deserve the thanks

Of the Burgh May Association

On behalf of the Irish nation ;

And hoped the Papists, in their mood

Of miscellaneous gratitude,

For all I have made the Doctor do,

Would have given the Devil his due.

'Twas I that turned the Doctor's head,

And into such vagaries led,

That, like a mad fantastic elf,

In purple he did dress himself;

When even the good Lord Liverpool

Took the great Doctor for a fool ;

And Darnley whispered that his looks

Bespoke him fitter for St. Luke's.

Whene'er Lord Wellesley gave a feast,

'Twas I that made this vapouring priest

Hold forth in such conceited way,

And such unholy antics play,

That while he made "the angels weep,"

He set the ladies fast asleep,

And all the aide-de-camps cried out,

He put even Croker* to the rout.

But do not think me satisfied

With the mere ridicule of pride.

'Twas I that with my potent art

Did petrify the Doctor's heart.

The Gospel from his soul I wrung 1 ,

But left St. Paul upon his tongue :

* Mr. Secretary Croker dined not long ago at the Castle, and after
monopolising the discourse, as is his wont, observed that the proper
custody of the mail from Waterford to Dungarvon, was the only fit
employment for the Government of Ireland. " The only fit employment
for the Government of Ireland \" cried Lord Wellesley; " 'sdeath, Sir,
do you know (rising, and clapping his hand on his breast), do you know,
Sir, that I am the Government of Ireland ? "A.

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 95

While of humility he talk'd,

In pride and arrogance he stalk'd ;

And men cried as to church he strode,

" Behold the humble priest of God !"

And thus, through him, into derision

I have brought the Protestant religion ;

For which I have laid the Popish nation

Under such mighty obligation,

That in the name of Hohenloe

In peace to Hell you should let me go.

Father Kenny admitted that the devil had presented
a very just view of the doings into which he had led the
doctor, and stated that he should only ask the fiend
one question more, namely, what devil was most pre-
dominant after himself? To which the devil of pride
replied, that the devil of covetousness held the next
place. There was immediately a loud call for the
exorcism of this devil, who was ordered to depart from
the Doctor in an invocation which it is unnecessary to
record. It was some time before Prince Hohenloe was
obeyed ; for this devil seemed to have gotten so firm a
gripe of the Doctor's mind, that it appeared almost
beyond the Prince's miraculous powers to turn him out.

At length, however, after repeated injunctions, the
demon came forth in the midst of a mephitic stench,
which well befitted the sordid nature of the vice that
now appeared in the shape of an insect, half spider and
half ant. The creature, after crawling out of the
Doctor's mouth, crept into his bosom, where it bur-
rowed in, and seemed still determined not to part. At
length, however, it was forced by a new conjuration, to
leave its hold; and we saw it creep up the fiend of
pride, and fasten on its tail, where it remained con-
cealed in the feathers; which we considered to be a

96 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

symbol of that alliance of parsimony and ostentation,
which are not unfrequently found together. No ques-
tions were asked of the devil of covetousness.

Having thus expelled the devil of avarice, Father
Kenny was proceeding to eject the devil of polemics,
when it was suggested that Doctor Doyle was the best
qualified theologian to perform this operation. Accord-
ingly Father Kenny yielded his place to the Bachelor of
Coimbra, and the Bishop of Leighlin and Ferns advanced
to the office of exorcism. He did not, however, adopt
the ordinary ritual of diabolical ejection ; but in order
to allure this devil out, who he knew was always
prompt and willing to appear, he challenged him to a
controversial disputation, respecting the comparative
claims of the two rival religions, when instantly a
direful hissing was heard, and the devil of po-
lemics sprang from the Doctor into the midst of the
fraternity.

The young Jesuits immediately assailed it, and the
Reverend Mr. Esmonde laid his hand boldly upon the
fiend, but the fierce adder turned upon him, and giving
him a formidable sting, he was compelled to let him
loose. The fiend went hissing in triumph round the
Chapel, spitting its venom on the images of the saints
and crucifixes, rearing itself aloft, and erecting itself
upon its burnished spires. It must be owned that,
however hateful from its venomous qualities, it was not
destitute of beauty, and its brilliant skin and glossy
scales were appropriately emblematic of the Doctor's
intellectual qualifications. It was manifest that Doctor
Doyle was the only divine competent to contend with
this devil, and he was loudly called on to attack it.

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 97

The fiend, who did not at first appear to entertain any-
dread of the Carlow theologian, turned round, and
seemed to collect and concentrate all its power to make
a dreadful spring upon him ; but Doctor Doyle subdued
it with a single word. He merely articulated " plagia-
rism/' and instantaneously the serpent shrunk back,
and made an effort to escape ; but Doctor Doyle set
his foot upon its head, and, crushing it to the ground,
commanded it to confess the misdeeds which it had
caused the Doctor to perpetrate. The fiend, after
twisting and contorting itself in vain, assumed a human
voice, and answered :

* I am the Devil of Polemics,
Who made the Doctor, for the heretics,
Ply tongue and pen in such a way,
That there has been the devil to pay ;
Since with the rage of disputation
He hath driven mad one half the nation,
And all religions have gone amiss
Since he flung his fierce antithesis.

If discord rages through the land,

If controversy's furious band

From North to South, and East to West,

The country with their howls infest,

The Doctor has the fearful merit

Of having raised this frantic spirit,

That long hath set, and will for years

Still set the people by the ears.

Now, holy father, I entreat you,

Since I could never yet defeat you,

And since 'tis by opposing me,

You owe your fame in theology,

And if you lose an antagonist,

Your name in the papers will be miss'd

VOL. II. H

98 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

I humbly pray you, I. K. L.,
Don't trample me too soon to Hell,
But long in Kildare-street let me dwell.
'Twould never answer me or you,
That neither should have aught to do."

" No !" exclaimed Doctor Doyle, " I will drive tlice
from the face of the country, and send thee for ever

' Down, down to Hell, and say I sent thce thither.' "

He was about to put his menace into execution, when
there was a general remonstrance from the Jesuits, who
felt the force of the devil's logic, and the cogency of his
last argument. They perceived the near connexion
between this devil's existence and their own, and inter-
fered for his preservation, observing that there could
not have been a more pernicious book than " Milner's
End of Religious Controversy," if the contents had at
all justified the title. The devil of polemics was in
consequence permitted to escape. But the day began
now to break, and the tapers with which the chapel was
illumined "to pale their ineffectual ray." It was
apprehended, that if all the devils by which the unfor-
tunate Doctor was possessed, were driven out one by
one, the operation would last a week.

To shorten the miracle, which was now becoming
somewhat tedious, it was proposed by the Reverend Mr.
Lestrange, who was anxious to be in Dublin at six
o'clock, in order to give early mass to Counsellor
O'Connell, that all the devils should be expelled at
once. Father Kenny complied with this request, and
with a loud voice commanded the whole legion to
depart to the Red Sea. Whoever has seen the casting
of the seventh bullet in Der Freischutz may form some

THE EXORCISM OF A DIVINE. 99

conception of the effects of this more summary exor-
cism. Successive claps of thunder shook the College of
Clongowes to its foundations, and the whole Chapel
was filled with the crowd of devils who had rushed
from the Doctor. They were too numerous to be de-
scribed. I should not, however, omit to mention
one of them which was peculiarly hideous and em-
blematic.

This was the devil of ingratitude. It had the head
of an unfledged pelican, (the bird that feeds upon its
parent's blood), while the rest of the body was com-
posed of a reptile that sought to hide itself in every
corner : ingratitude, base as it is, having at least the
merit of being ashamed of its own turpitude. (The
Doctor denies his obligations to Lord Plunket). The
whole of the infernal legion having been expelled from
the possessed man, permission was given them to go
their several ways, of which they immediately availed
themselves ; and the miracle was complete. The Doc-
tor was raised from the ground, and having recovered
from a swoon into which he had fallen, returned his
thanks to Prince Hohenloe, and to the Jesuits, and
expressed a desire to renounce the errors of Protest-
antism and become a member of the society. This
proposition was acceded to ; but, instead of entering the
novitiate, as is the regular course, it was proposed that,
for the benefit of religion, the Doctor should still con-
tinue ostensibly a member of the Established Church,
and in the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions : for as
nothing tended to bring Protestantism into greater dis-
repute in Ireland so much as his conduct, it was deemed
advisable, that, with a view to aid the interests of Popery,

H 2

100 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

he should persevere in the same course ; and, although
in reality poor in spirit, and of an humble and truly
Christian character of heart, he should appear to be
insolent, avaricious, and overbearing.

It is almost unnecessary for me to mention that this
suggestion was adopted, and that the Doctor still
continues to render the same services to the Catholic
religion.

IGNATIUS RABELAIS O'FLUMMERY.

101

THE CLAEE ELECTION.*

[OCTOBEE, 1828.]
PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS.

THE Catholics had passed a resolution, at one of their
aggregate meetings, to oppose the election of every can-
didate who should not pledge himself against the Duke
of Wellington's administration. This measure lay for
some time a mere dead letter in the registry of the
Association, and was gradually passing into oblivion,
when an incident occurred which gave it an importance
far greater than had originally belonged to it.

Lord John Russell, flushed with the victory which
had been achieved in the repeal of the Test and Corpo-

* This memorable election, which exercised so important an influence
upon the question of Catholic Emancipation, commenced on the 30th
June, 1828. The circumstances that occasioned it are sufficiently detailed
in Mr. Shell's animated narrative. Mr. O'Connell went the daring
length of affirming that he was not only eligible, as the law stood, but
that, if returned, he could sit and vote without taking the oaths objected
to by Roman Catholics ; and this novel view of the law was supported
by the opinion of an eminent legal authority in England, Mr. Charles
Butler.

102 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

ration Acts, and grateful to the Duke of Wellington for
the part which he had taken, wrote a letter to Mr.
O'Connell, in which he suggested that the conduct of
his Grace had been so fair and manly towards the Dis-
senters, as to entitle him to their gratitude ; and that
they would consider the reversal of the resolution which
had been passed against his government, as evidence of
the interest which was felt in Ireland, not only in the
great question peculiarly applicable to that country,
but in the assertion of religious freedom through the
empire.

The authority of Lord John Russell is considerable,
and Mr. O'Connell, under the influence of his advice,
proposed that the anti- Wellington resolution should be
withdrawn. This motion was violently opposed, and
Mr. O'Connell perceived that the antipathy to the Great
Captain was more deeply rooted than he had originally
imagined. After a long and tempestuous debate, he
suggested an amendment, in which the principle of his
original motion was given up, and the Catholics re-
mained pledged to their hostility to the Duke of Wel-
lington's administration. Mr. O'Connell has reason to
rejoice at his -failure in carrying this proposition; for if
he had succeeded, no ground for opposing the return of
Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald would have existed.

The promotion of that gentleman to a seat in the
Cabinet created a vacancy in the representation of the
County of Clare ;* and an opportunity was afforded to

* Mr. Vcsey Fitzgerald (afterwards Lord Fitzgerald and Vesci) was
Paymaster of the Forces in the Goderich Ministry, and President of the
Board of Trade in the Duke of Wellington's Administration of the same
year. Mr. Fitzgerald succeeded Mr. Charles Grant, the present Lord
Glenelg, on his retirement with Mr. Huskisson from the Wellington
Cabinet

THE CLARE ELECTION. 103

the Roman Catholic body of proving, that the resolution
which had been passed against the Duke of Welling-
ton's government was not an idle vaunt, but that it
could be carried in a striking instance into effect. It
was determined that all the power of the people should
be put forth. The Association looked round for a can-
didate, and without having previously consulted him,
nominated Major M'Namara. He is a Protestant in
religion, a Catholic in politics, and a Milesian in
descent. Although he is equally well known in Dublin
and in Clare, his provincial is distinct from his metro-
politan reputation. In Dublin he may be seen at half-
past four o'clock, strolling, with a lounge of easy im-
portance, towards Kildare- street Club-house, and dressed
in exact imitation of the King ; to whose royal whiskers
the Major's are considered to bear a profusely powdered,
and highly frizzed affinity. Not contented with this
single point of resemblance, he has, by the entertain-
ment of " a score or two of tailors," and the profound
study of the regal fashions, achieved a complete look of
Majesty ; and by the turn of his coat, the dilation of his
chest, and an aspect of egregious dignity, succeeded in
producing in his person a very fine effigy of his .sove-
reign.

. With respect to his moral qualities, he belongs to
the good old school of Irish gentlemen ; and from the
facility of his manners, and his graceful mode of arbi-
trating a difference, has acquired a very eminent cha-
racter as " a friend." No man is better versed in the
strategics of Irish honour. He chooses the ground
with an O'Trigger eye, and by a glance over "the
[Fifteen Acres," is able to select, with an instantaneous
accuracy, the finest position for the settlement of a

104 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

quarrel.* In his calculation of distances, he displays a
peculiarly scientific genius; and, whether it be ex-
pedient to bring down your antagonist at a long shot,
or at a more embarrassing interval of feet, you may be
sure of the Major's loading to a grain.

In the county of Clare, he does not merely enact the
part of a sovereign. He is the chief of the clan of the
M^Namaras, and after rehearsing the royal character at
Kildare-street, the moment he arrives on the coast of
Clare, and visits the oyster-beds at Poldoody, becomes
"every inch a king." He possesses great influence
with the people, which is founded upon far better
grounds than their hereditary reverence for the Mi-
lesian nobility of Ireland. He is a most excellent
magistrate. If a gentleman should endeavour to crush
a poor peasant, Major M'Namara is ready to protect
him, not only with the powers of his office, but at the
risk of his life. This creditable solicitude for the rights
and the interests of the lower orders had rendered him
most deservedly popular ; and in naming him as their
representative, the Association could not have made a
more judicious choice. He was publicly called upon to
stand. Some days elapsed and no answer was returned
by the Major. The public mind was thrown into sus-
pense, and various conjectures went abroad as to the
cause of this singular omission. Some alleged that he
was gone to an island off the coast of Clare, where the

" The "Fifteen Acres" is a portion of the Phoenix Park, and the
" Champ-de-Mars " of Dublin, where the troops of the garrison are
reviewed upon state occasions. When the duel was in fashion, the
same ground corresponded to Chalk Farm in the neighbourhood of
London. The farcical story of the Irish attorney challenging his opponent
to "the Fifteen Acres, be the same more or less," is well known
" omnibus lippis et tonsoribus."

THE CLARE ELECTION. 105

proceedings of the Association had not reached him ;
while others suggested that he was only waiting until
the clergy of the county should declare themselves more
unequivocally favourable to him.

The Association were not, however, dismayed ; and it
having been conjectured that the chief reason for Major
M'Namara having omitted to return an answer was
connected with pecuniary considerations, it was decided
that so large a sum as five thousand pounds of the
Catholic rent should be allocated to the expenses of his
election. Mr. O'Gorman Mahon and Mr. Steele were
directed to proceed at once to Clare, in order that they
might have a personal interview with him ; and they
immediately set off. After an absence of two days,
Mr. O' Gorman Mahon returned, having left his col-
league behind in order to arouse the people ; and he at
length conveyed certain intelligence with respect to the
Major's determination. The obligations under which
his family lay to Mr. Fitzgerald were such, that he was
bound in honour not to oppose him. This information
produced a feeling of deep disappointment among the
Catholic body, while the Protestant party exulted in his
apparent desertion of the cause, and boasted that no
gentleman of the county would stoop so low as to accept
of the patronage of the Association. In this emer-
gency, and when it was universally regarded as an
utterly hopeless attempt to oppose the Cabinet Mi-
nister, the public were astonished by an address from
Mr. O'Connell to the freeholders of Clare, in which
he offered himself as a candidate, and solicited their
support.

Nothing but his subsequent success could exceed the
sensation which was produced by this address, and all

106 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

eyes were turned towards the field in which so remark-
able a contest vras to be waged. The two candidates
entered the lists with signal advantages upon both sides.
Mr. O'Connell had an unparalleled popularity, which
the services of thirty years had secured to him. Upon
the other hand, Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald presented a com*
bination of favourable circumstances, which rendered
the issue exceedingly difficult to calculate. His father
had held the office of Prime Sergeant at the Irish Bar ;
and, although indebted to the Government for his pro-
motion, had the virtuous intrepidity to vote against the
Union. This example of independence had rendered
him a great favourite with the people. From the
moment that his son had obtained access to power, he
had employed his extensive influence in doing acts of
kindness to the gentry of the county of Clare. He
had inundated it with the overflowings of ministerial
bounty. The eldest sons of the poorer gentlemen, and
the younger branches of the aristocracy, had been pro-
vided for through his means; and in the army, the
navy, the treasury, the Four Courts, and the Custom
House, the proofs of his political friendship were every-
where to be found.

Independently of any act of his which could be re-
ferred to his personal interest, and his anxiety to keep
up his influence in the county, Mr. Fitzgerald, who is a
man of a very amiable disposition, had conferred many
services upon his Clare acquaintances. Nor was it to
Protestants that these manifestations of favour were con-
fined. He had laid not only the Catholic proprietors,
but the Catholic priesthood, under obligation. The
Bishop of the diocese himself, (a respectable old gentle-
man who drives about in a gig with a mitre upon it,) is

THE CLAEE ELECTION. 107

supposed not to have escaped from his bounties ; and it
is more than insinuated that some droppings of minis-
terial manna had fallen upon him. The consequence
of this systematized and uniform plan of benefaction is
obvious. The sense of obligation was heightened by
the manners of this extensive distributor of the favours
of the Crown, and converted the ordinary feeling of
thankfulness into one of personal regard.

To this array of very favourable circumstances, Mr.
Fitzgerald brought the additional influence which arose
from his recent promotion to the Cabinet; which, to
those who had former benefits to return, afforded an
opportunity for the exercise of that kind of prospective
gratitude which has been described to consist of a lively
sense of services to come. These were the comparative
advantages with wliich the ministerial and the popular
candidate engaged in this celebrated contest ; and
Ireland stood by to witness the encounter.

Mr. O'Connell did not immediately set off from
Dublin, but before his departure several gentlemen
were despatched from the Association in order to excite
the minds of the people, and to prepare the way for
him. The most active and useful of the persons who
were employed upon this occasion, were the two gentle-
men to whom I have already referred, Mr. Steele and
Mr. O'Gorman. They are both deserving of special
commendation.

The former is a Protestant of a respectable fortune in
the county of Clare, and who has all his life been de-
voted to the assertion of liberal principles. In Trinity
College, he was amongst the foremost of the advocates
of emancipation, and at that early period became the
intimate associate of many Roman Catholic gentlemen

4-

108 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

who have since distinguished themselves in the pro-
ceedings of their body. Being a man of independent
circumstances, Mr. Steele did not devote himself to any
profession, and having a zealous and active mind, he
looked round for occupation. The Spanish war afforded
him a field for the display of that generous enthusiasm
by which he is distinguished. He joined the patriot
army, and fought with a desperate valour upon the
batteries of the Trocadero. It was only when Cadiz
had surrendered, and the cause of Spain became utterly
hopeless, that Mr. Steele relinquished this noble under-
taking. He returned to England, surrounded by exiles
from the unfortunate country for the liberation of
which he had repeatedly exposed his life. It was im-
possible for a man of so much energy of character to
remain in torpor ; and on his arrival in Ireland, faithful
to the principles by which he had been uniformly
swayed, he joined the Catholic Association.

There he delivered several powerful and enthusiastic
declamations in favour of religious liberty. Such a
man, however, was fitted for action as well as for
harangue ; and the moment the contest in Clare began,
he threw himself into the combat with the same alacrity
with which he had rushed upon the French bayonets at
Cadiz. He was serviceable in various ways. He opened
the political campaign by intimating his readiness to
fight any landlord who should conceive himself to be
aggrieved by an interference with his tenants. This
was a very impressive exordium. He then proceeded
to canvass for votes; and, assisted by his intimate
friend Mr. O'Gorman Mahon, travelled through the
country, and, both by day and night, addressed the
people from the altars round which they were assembled

THE CLARE ELECTION. 109

to liear him. It is no exaggeration to say, that to him,
and to his intrepid and indefatigable confederate, the
success of Mr. O'Connell is greatly to be ascribed.

Mr. O' Gorman Mahon is introduced into this article
as one amongst many figures. He would deserve to
stand apart in a portrait. Nature has been peculiarly
favourable to him. He has a very striking physiog-
nomy, of the Corsair character, which the Protestant
Gulnares, and the Catholic Medoras, find it equally
difficult to resist. His figure is tall, and he is pecu-
liarly free and degage in all his attitudes and move-
ments. In any other man his attire would appear
singularly fantastical. His manners are exceedingly
frank and natural, and have a character of kindliness
as well as of self-reliance imprinted upon them. He is
wholly free from embarrassment and mauvaise honte,
and carries a well-founded consciousness of his personal
merit ; which is, however, so well united with urbanity,
that it is not in the slightest degree offensive. His
talents as a popular speaker are considerable. He
derives from external qualifications an influence over
the multitude, which men of diminutive stature are
somewhat slow of obtaining. A little man is at first
view regarded by the great body of spectators with
disrelish ; and it is only by force of phrase, and by the
charm of speech, that he can at length succeed in
inducing his auditors to overlook any infelicity of con-
figuration; but when O'Gorman Mahon throws himself
out before the people, and, touching his whiskers \vith
one hand, brandishes the other, an enthusiasm is at
once produced, to which the fair portion of the spec-
tators lend their tender contribution. Such a man was
exactly adapted to the excitement of the people of

110 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Clare ; and it must be admitted that, by liis indefati-
gable exertions, his unremitting activity, and his de-
voted zeal, he most materially assisted in the election
of Mr. O'Connell.

While Mr. Steele and Mr. O' Gorman Mahon ha-
rangued the people in one district, Mr. Lawless, who
was also despatched upon a similar mission, applied his
faculties of excitation in another. This gentleman has
obtained deserved celebrity by his being almost the
only individual among the Irish deputies who remon-
strated against the sacrifice of the rights of the forty-
shilling freeholders. Ever since that period he has
been eminently popular; and although he may occa-
sionally, by ebullitions of ill-regulated but generous
enthusiasm, create a little merriment amongst those
whose minds are not as susceptible of patriotic and
disinterested emotion of his own, yet the conviction
which is entertained of his honesty of purpose, confers
upon him a considerable influence. " Honest Jack
Lawless" is the designation by which he has been
known since the " wings " were in discussion. He has
many distinguished qualifications as a public speaker.
His voice is deep, round, and mellow, and is diversified
by a great variety of rich and harmonious intonation.
His action is exceedingly graceful and appropriate : he
has a good figure, which, by a purposed swell and
dilation of the shoulders, and an elaborate erectness, he
turns to good account ; and by dint of an easy fluency
of good diction, a solemn visage, an aquiline nose of no
vulgar dimension, eyes glaring underneath a shaggy
brow with a certain fierceness of emotion, a quizzing-
glass, which is gracefully dangled in any pauses of
thought or suspensions of utterance, and, above all, by

THE CLARE ELECTION. Ill

a certain attitude of dignity, which he assumes in the
crisis of eloquence, accompanied with a flinging hack
of his coat, which sets his periods beautifully off,
11 Honest Jack " has hecome one of the most popular
and efficient speakers at the Association.

Shortly after Mr. Lawless had been despatched, a
great reinforcement to the oratorical corps was sent
down in the person of the celebrated Father Maguire,
or, as he is habitually designated, "Father Tom."
This gentleman had been for some time a parish priest
in the county of Leitrim. He lived in a remote parish,
where his talents were unappreciated. Some accident
brought Mr. Pope, the itinerant controversialist, into
contact with him. A challenge to defend the doctrines
of his religion was tendered by the wandering disputant
to the priest, and the latter at once accepted it.
Maguire had given no previous proof of his abilities,
and the Catholic body regretted the encounter. The
parties met in this strange duel of theology. The
interest created by their encounter was prodigious.
Not only the room where their debates were carried on
was crowded, but the whole of Sackville-street, where
it was situated, was thronged with population. Pope
brought to the combat great fluency, and a powerful
declamation. Maguire was a master of scholastic logic.
After several days of controversy, Pope was overthrown,
and " Father Tom/' as the champion of orthodoxy,
became the object of popular adoration.

A base conspiracy was got up to destroy his moral
character, and by its failure raised him in the affection
of the multitude.* He had been under great obligations

* The conspiracy, if such it was, took the shape of an action for
seduction. The lady was examined on the trial, and swore that the

112 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

to Mr. O'Connell, for his exertions upon his trial ; and
from a just sentiment of gratitude, he tendered his
services in Clare. His name alone was of great value ;
and when his coming was announced, the people every-
where rushed forward to hail the great vindicator of
the national religion. He threw fresh ingredients into
the caldron,* and contributed to impart to the contest
that strong religious character which it is not the fault
of the Association, but of the Government, that every
contest of the kind must assume.

" Father Tom " was employed upon a remarkable
exploit. Mr. Augustine Butler, the lineal descendant
of the famous Sir Toby Butler, is a proprietor in Clare:
he is a liberal Protestant, but supported Mr. Vesey
Fitzgerald. " Father Tom " proceeded from the town
of Ennis to the country chapel where Mr. Butler's free-
holders were assembled, in order to address them ; and
Mr. Butler, with an intrepidity which did him credit,
went forward to meet him. It was a singular encounter
in the house of God. The Protestant landlord called
upon his freeholders not to desert him. "Father
Tom " rose to address them in behalf of Mr. O'Connell.
He is not greatly gifted with a command of decorated
phraseology; but he is master of vigorous language,
and has a power of strong and simple reasoning, which
is equally intelligible to all classes. He employs the

reverend defendant triumphed over her virtue by a promise of marriage,
to be fiilfilled on his becoming a Protestant clergyman ! The jury was
incredulous, and acquitted Mr. Maguire.

* The " bowl " would have been a more appropriate image, for Mr.
Maguire was noted for his conviviality, and as celebrated for his punch
as for his polemics. Perhaps, like the parson, in the history of Jonathan
Wild the Great, it was " a liquor he the rather preferred, as it is nowhere
spoken against in scripture."

THE CLARE ELECTION. 113

syllogism of the schools as his chief weapon in argu-
ment ; but uses it with such dexterity, that his auditors
of the humblest class can follow him without being
aware of the technical expedient of logic by which he
masters the understanding.

His manner is peculiar : it is not flowery, nor decla-
matory, but is short, somewhat -abrupt, and, to use the
French phrase, is tranchant. His countenance is
adapted to his mind, and is expressive of the reasoning
and controversial faculties. A quick blue eye, a nose
slightly turned up, and formed for the tossing off of
an argument, a strong brow, a complexion of mountain
ruddiness, and thick lips, which are better formed for
rude disdain than for polished sarcasm, are his charac-
teristics. He assailed Mr. Butler with all his powers,
and overthrew him. The topic to which he addressed
himself, was one which was not only calculated to move
the tenants of Mr. Butler, but to stir Mr. Butler him-
self. He appealed to the memory of his celebrated
Catholic ancestor, of which Mr. Butler is justly proud.
He stated, that what Sir Toby Butler had been,
Mr. O' Council was ; and he conjured him not to stand
up in opposition to an individual whom he was bound
to sustain by a sort of hereditary obligation."* His
appeal carried the freeholders away, and one hundred
and fifty votes were secured to Mr. O'ConnelL
Mr. Maguire was seconded in this achievement by
Mr. Dominick Ronayne, a barrister of the Association,
of considerable talents, and who not only speaks the
English language with eloquence, but is master of the

* See the paper on The Catholic Bar, where the author has collected
some very interesting particulars respecting a man who took a very dis-
tinguished part in Irish affairs, before and after the Kevolution of 1688.

VOL. II. I

114 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Irish tongue; and, throwing an educated mind into
the powerful idiom of the country, wrought with un-
common power upon the passions of the people.

Mr. Sheil was employed as counsel for Mr. O'Connell
before the assessor; but proceeded to the county of
Clare the day before the election commenced. On his
arrival, he understood that an exertion was required
in the parish of Corofin, which is situate upon the
estate of Sir Edward O'Brien, who had given all his
interest to Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald. Sir Edward is the
most opulent resident landlord in the county. In the
parish of Corofin he had no less than three hundred
votes ; and it was supposed that his freeholders would
go with him. Mr. Shcil determined to assail him in
the citadel of his strength, and proceeded upon the
Sunday before the poll commenced to the chapel of
Corofin. Sir Edward O'Brien having learned that this
agitator intended this trespass upon his authority,
resolved to anticipate him, and set off in an equipage,
drawn by four horses, to the mountains in which Corofin
is situated.

The whole population came down from their resi-
dences in the rocks, which are in the vicinity of the
town of Ennis, and advanced in large bands, waving
green boughs, and preceded by fifes and pipers, upon
the road. Their landlord was met by them on his way.
They passed him by in silence, while they hailed the
demagogue with shouts, and attended him in triumph
to the chapel. Sir Edward O'Brien lost his resolution
at this spectacle; and feeling that he could have no
influence in such a state of excitation, instead of going
to the house of Catholic worship, proceeded to the
church of Corofin. He left his carriage exactly opposite

THE CLARE ELECTION. 115

the doors of the chapel, which is immediately con-
tiguous, and thus reminded the people of his Pro-
testantism by a circumstance of which, of course,
advantage was instantaneously taken.

Mr. Sheil arrived with a vast multitude of attendants
at the chapel, which was crowded with people, who had
flocked from all quarters ; there a singular scene took
place. Father Murphy, the parish priest, came to the
entrance of the chapel dressed in his surplice. As he
came forth, the multitude fell back at his command,
and arranged themselves on either side, so as to form
a Line for the reception of the agitator. Deep silence
was imposed upon the people by the priest, who had a
voice like subterraneous thunder, and appeared to hold
them in absolute dominion. When Mr. Sheil had
reached the threshold of the chapel, Father Murphy
stretched forth his hand, and welcomed him to the
performance of the good work. The figure and attitude
of the priest were remarkable. My English reader
draws his ordinary notion of a Catholic clergyman
from the caricatures which are contained in novels, or
represented in farces upon the stage; but the Irish
priest, who has lately become a politician and a scholar,
has not a touch of Foigardism about him;* and an
artist would have found in Father Murphy rather a
study for the enthusiastic Macbriar, who is so power-
fully delineated in " Old Mortality," than a realization
of the familiar notions of a clergyman of the Church
of Rome.

As he stood surrounded by a dense multitude, whom
he had hushed into profound silence, he presented a

* From Foigard, the sycophantic Irish priest in Farquhar's comedy
of The Beaux Stratagem.

i 2

116 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

most imposing object. His form is tall, slender, and
emaciated; but was enveloped in his long robes, that
gave him a peculiarly sacerdotal aspect. The hand
which he stretched forth was ample, but worn to a
skinny meagritude and pallor. His face was long,
sunken, and cadaverous, but was illuminated by eyes
blazing with all the fire of genius, the enthusiasm of
religion, and the devotedness of patriotism. His lank
black hair fell down his temples, and eyebrows of the
same colour stretched in thick straight lines along a
lofty forehead, and threw over the whole countenance
a deep shadow. The sun was shining with brilliancy,
and rendered his figure, attired as it was in white
garments, more conspicuous. The scenery about him
was in harmony ; it was wild and desolate, and crags,
with scarce a blade of verdure shooting through their
crevices, rose everywhere around him. The interior
of the chapel, at the entrance of which he stood, was
visible. It was a large pile of building, consisting of
bare walls, rudely thrown up, with a floor of clay, and
at the extremity stood an altar made of a few boards
clumsily put together.

It was on the threshold of this mountain temple that
the envoy of the Association was hailed with a solemn
greeting. The priest proceeded to the altar, and com-
manded the people to abstain, during the divine cere-
mony, from all political thinking or occupation. He
recited the mass with great fervency and simplicity of
manner, and with all the evidences of unaffected piety.
However familiar from daily repetition with the ritual,
he pronounced it with a just emphasis, and went
through the various forms which are incidental to it
with singular propriety and grace. The people were

THE CLARE ELECTION. 117

deeply attentive, and it was observable that most of
them could read; for they had prayer-books in their
hands, which they read with a quiet devotion. Mass
being finished, Father Murphy threw his vestments off,
and without laying down the priest, assumed the poli-
tician. He addressed the people in Irish, and called
upon them to vote for O'Connell in the name of their
country and of their religion.

It was a most extraordinary and powerful display of
the externals of eloquence; and as far as a person
unacquainted with the language could form an estimate
of the matter by the effects produced upon the auditory,
it must have been pregnant with genuine oratory. It
will be supposed that this singular priest addressed his
parishioners in tones and gestures as rude as the wild
dialect to which he was giving utterance. His action
and attitudes were as graceful as an accomplished actor
could use in delivering the speech of Antony, and his
intonations were soft, pathetic, denunciatory, and con-
juring, according as his theme varied, and as he had
recourse to different expedients to influence the people.
The general character of this strange harangue was im-
passioned and solemn, but he occasionally had recourse
to ridicule, and his countenance at once adapted itself
with a happy readiness to derision. The finest spirit of
sarcasm gleamed over his features, and shouts of
laughter attended his description of a miserable Catho-
lic who should prove recreant to the great cause,, by
making a sacrifice of his country to his landlord.

The close of his speech was peculiarly effective. He

became inflamed by the power of his emotions, and

while he raised himself into the loftiest attitude to which

ic could ascend, he laid one hand on the altar, and

118 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

shook the other in the spirit of almost prophetic admo-
nition, and as his eyes blazed and seemed to start from
his forehead, thick drops fell down his face, and his
voice rolled through lips livid -with passion and covered
with foam. It is almost unnecessary to say that such
an appeal was irresistible. The multitude burst into
shouts of acclamation, and would have been ready to
mount a battery roaring with cannon at his command.
Two days after the results were felt at the hustings;
and while Sir Edward O'Brien stood aghast, Father
Murphy marched into Ennis at the head of his tenantry,
and polled them to a man in favour of Daniel O'Con-
nell. But I am anticipating.

The notion which had gone abroad in Dublin that the
priests were lukewarm, was utterly unfounded. "\Vith
the exception ofDean O'Shaughnessy, who is a relative
of Mr. Fitzgerald (and for whom there is perhaps much
excuse), and a Father Coffey, who has since been
deserted by his congregation, and is paid his dues in
bad halfpence, there was scarcely a clergyman in the
county who did not use his utmost influence over the
peasantry. On the day on which Mr. O'Connell arrived,
you met a priest in every street, who assured you that
the battle should be won, and pledged himself that
" the man of the people " should be returned. " The
man of the people" arrived in the midst of the loudest
acclamations. Near thirty thousand people were crowded
into the streets of Ennis, and were unceasing in their
shouts. Banners were suspended from every window,
and women of great beauty were everywhere seen
waving handkerchiefs with the figure of the patriot
stamped upon them. Processions of freeholders, with
their parish priests at their heads, were marching like

THE CLARE ELECTION. 119

troops to different quarters of the city; and it was
remarkable that not a single individual was intoxicated.
The most perfect order and regularity prevailed; and
the large bodies of police which had been collected in
the town stood without occupation. These were evi-
dences of organization, from which it was easy to form
a conjecture as to the result.

121

THE CLARE ELECTION.

THE COURT-HOUSE AXD THE POLL.

[OCTOBEE, 1828.]

THE election opened, and the court-house in which
the Sheriff read the writ, presented a very new and
striking scene. On the left-hand of the Sheriff stood a
Cabinet-minister, attended by the whole body of the
aristocracy of the county of Clare. Their appearance
indicated at once their superior rank and their pro-
found mortification. An expression of bitterness and of
wounded pride was stamped in various modifications of
resentment upon their countenances ; while others, who
were in the interest of Mr. Fitzgerald, and who were
small Protestant proprietors, affected to look big and
important, and swelled themselves into gentry upon the
credit of voting for the minister.

On the right hand of the Sheriff stood Mr. O'Connell,
with scarcely a single gentleman by his side ; for most
even of the Catholic proprietors had abandoned him
and joined the ministerial candidate. But the body of
the court presented the power of Mr. O'Connell in a
mass of determined peasants, amongst whom black
coats and sarcerdotal visages were seen felicitously

122 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

intermixed, outside the balustrade of the gallery on the
left hand of the Sheriff. Before the business began, a
gentleman was observed on whom every eye was turned.
He had indeed chosen a most singular position; for
instead of sitting like the other auditors on the seats in the
gallery, he leaped over it, and, suspending himself above
the crowd, afforded what was an object of wonder to the
great body of the spectators, and of indignation to the
High-Sheriff.

The attire of the individual who was thus perched in
this dangerous position was sufficiently strange. He
had a coat of Irish tabinet, with glossy trowsers of the
same national material ; he wore no waistcoat ; a blue
shirt lined with streaks of white was open at his neck,
in which the strength of Hercules and the symmetry of
Antinous, were combined ; a broad green sash, with a
medal of " the Order of Liberators " at the end of it,
hung conspicuously over his breast ; and a profusion of
black curls, curiously festooned about his temples,
shadowed a very handsome and expressive countenance,
a great part of which was occupied by whiskers of a
bushy amplitude. "Who, Sir, are you?" exclaimed
the High- Sheriff, in a tone of imperious melancholy,
which he had acquired at Canton, where he had long
resided in the service of the East India Company.
But I must pause here, and even at the hazard of breaking
the regular thread of the narration, I cannot resist the
temptation of describing the High- Sheriff.

When he stood up with his wand of office in his
hand, the contrast between him and the aerial gentle-
man whom he was addressing, was to the highest
degree ludicrous. Of the latter some conception lias
already been given. He looked a chivalrous dandy,

THE CLARE ELECTION. 123

who, under the most fantastic apparel, carried the spirit
and intrepidity of an exceedingly fine fellow. Mr.
High-Sheriff had, at an early period of his life, left his
native county of Clare, and had migrated to China,
where, if I may judge from his manners and demeanour,
he must have been in immediate communication with
a Mandarin of the first class, and made a Chinese func-
tionary his favourite model. I should conjecture that
he must long have presided over the packing of Bohea,
and that some tincture of that agreeable vegetable had
been infused into his complexion. An Oriental sedate-
ness and gravity are spread over a countenance upon
which a smile seldom presumes to trespass. He gives
utterance to intonations which were originally con-
tracted in the East, but have been since melodized by
his religious habits into a puritanical chant in Ireland.
The Chinese language is monosyllabic, and the Sheriff
has extended its character to the English tongue ; for
he breaks all his words into separate and elaborate
divisions, to each of which he bestows a due quantity
of deliberate intonation. Upon arriving in Ireland, he
addicted himself to godliness, having previously made
great gains in China, and he has so contrived as to
impart the cadences of Wesley to the pronunciation
of Confucius.

Such was the aspect of the great public functionary,
who, rising with a peculiar magisteriality of altitude
and stretching forth the emblem of his power, inquired
of the gentleman who was suspended from the gallery
who he was. " My name is O' Gorman Mali on," was
the reply, delivered with a firmness which clearly
showed that the person who had conveyed this piece of
intelligence thought very little of a High- Sheriff, and a

124 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

great deal of O'Gorman Mahon. The Sheriff had been
offended by the general appearance of Mr. Mahon, who
had distracted the public attention from his own con-
templation ; but he was particularly irritated by observ-
ing the insurgent symbol of " the Order of Liberators"
dangling at his breast. " I tell that gentleman," said
the Sheriff, " to take off that badge." There was a
moment's pause, and then the following answer was
slowly and articulately pronounced : " This gentleman
(laying his hand on his breast) tells that gentleman
(pointing with the other to the Sheriff), that if that
gentleman presumes to touch this gentleman, this
gentleman will defend himself against that gentleman,
or any other gentleman, while he has got the arm of
a gentleman to protect him."

This extraordinary sentence was followed by a loud
burst of applause from all parts of the court-house.
The High- Sheriff looked aghast. The expression of
self-satisfaction and magisterial complacency passed off
from his visage, and he looked utterly blank and dejected.
After an interval of irresolution, down he sat. " The
soul" of O'Gorman Mahon (to use Curran's expression)
"walked forth in its own majesty;" he looked "re-
deemed, regenerated, and disenthralled." The medal
of " the Order of Liberators" was pressed to his heart.
O'Connell surveyed him with gratitude and admiration ;
and the first blow was struck, which sent dismay into
the heart of the party of which the Sheriff was con-
sidered to be an adherent.

This was the opening incident of this novel drama.
When the sensation which it had created had in some
degree subsided, the business of the day went on. Sir
Edward O'Brien proposed Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald as a

THE CLARE ELECTION. 125

proper person to serve in Parliament. Sir Edward had
upon former occasions been the vehement antagonist
of Mr. Fitzgerald, and in one instance a regular battle
had been fought between the tenantry of both parties.
It was supposed that this feud had left some acrimonious
feelings which were not quite extinct behind, and many
conjectured that the zeal of Sir Edward in favour of
his competitor was a little feigned. This notion was
confirmed by the circumstance that Sir Edward O'Brien's
son (the member for Ennis) had subscribed to the
Catholic Hent, was a member of the Association, and
had recently made a vigorous speech in Parliament in
defence of that body.* It is, however, probable that
the feudal pride of Sir Edward O'Brien, which was
deeply mortified by the defection of his vassals, absorbed
every other feeling, and that, however indifferent he
might have been on Mr. Fitzgerald's account, yet that
he was exceedingly irritated upon his own. He ap-
peared at least to be profoundly moved, and had not
spoken above a few minutes when tears fell from his
eyes.

He has a strong Irish character impressed upon him.
It is said that he is lineally descended from the Irish
emperor, Brian-Borue ; and indeed he has some resem-
blance to the sign-post at a tavern near Clontarf, in
which the image of that celebrated monarch is repre-
sented. He is squat, bluff, and impassioned. An
expression of good nature, rather than of good humour,
is mixed up with a certain rough consciousness of his
own dignity, which in his most familiar moments he
never lays aside ; for the Milesian predominates in his
demeanour, and his royal recollections wait perpetually

* Mr. William Smith O'Brien, second son of Sir Edward.

126 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

upon him. He is a great favourite with the people,
who are attached to the descendants of the ancient
indigenous families of the country, and who see in Sir
Edward O'Brien a good landlord, as well as the repre-
sentative of Brian Borue.

I was not a little astonished at seeing him weep upon
the hustings. It was, however, observed to me, that
he is given to the " melting mood," although his tears
do not fall like the gum of " the Arabian tree." In
the House of Commons he once produced a great effect
by bursting into tears, while he described the misery of
the people of Clare, although at the same time, his
granaries were full. It was said that his hustings pathos
was of the same quality, and arose from the peculiar
susceptibility of the lacrymatory nerves, and not from
any very nice fibres about the heart ; still I am con-
vinced that his emotion was genuine, and that he was
profoundly touched.* He complained that he had
been deserted by his tenants, although he had deserved
well at their hands ; and exclaimed that the country
was not one fit for a gentleman to reside in, when pro-
perty lost all its influence, and things were brought to
such a pass. The motion was seconded by Sir A.
Fitzgerald in a few words. Mr. Gore, a gentleman of
very large estate, took occasion to deliver his opinions
in favour of Mr. Fitzgerald ; and Mr. O' Gorman Mahon
and Mr. Steele proposed Mr. O'Connell.

It then fell to the rival candidates to speak, and Mr.
Vesey Fitzgerald, having been first put in nomination,
first addressed the freeholders. He seemed to me to

* Old Campion, in his Historic of Ireland, mentions an ancient
proverbiid expression "to weepe Irish." See the first book of his history,
the chapter on " The dispositions of the people."

THE CLARE ELECTION. 127

be about five-and-forty years of age, his hair being
slightly marked with a little edging of scarcely percep-
tible silver, but the care with which it was distributed
and arranged, showed that the cabinet minister had
not yet entirely dismissed his Lothario recollections.
I had heard, before I had even seen Mr. Fitzgerald,
that he was in great favour with the Calistas at Almack's;
and I was not surprised at it, on a minute inspection
of his aspect and deportment. It is not that he is a
handsome man, (though he is far from being the
reverse), but that there is an air of blended sweetness
and assurance, of easy intrepidity and gentle graceful-
ness about him, which are considered to be eminently
winning. His countenance, though too fully circular,
and a little tinctured with vermilion, is agreeable.
The eyes are of a bright hazel, and have an expression
of ever earnest frankness, which an acute observer
might suspect, while his mouth is full of a strenuous
solicitude to please.

The moment he rose, I perceived that he was an
accomplished gentleman: and when I had heard him
utter a few sentences, I was satisfied that he was a most
accomplished speaker. He delivered one of the most
effective and dexterous speeches which it has ever been
my good fortune to hear. There were evident marks
of deep pain and of fear to be traced in his features,
which were not free from the haggardness of many an
anxious vigil ; but though he was manifestly mortified
in the extreme, he studiously refrained from all exaspe-
rating sentiment or expression. He spoke at first with
a graceful melancholy, rather than a tone of impassioned
adjuration. He intimated that it was rather a measure
of rigorous if not unjustifiable policy, to display the

128 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

power of the Association in throwing an individual out
of Parliament who had been the warm and uniform
advocate of the Catholic cause during his whole political
life. He enumerated the instances in which he had
exerted himself in behalf of that body which were now
dealing with him with such severity, and referred to his
services with regard to the College of Maynooth.

The part of his speech which was most powerful,
related to his father. The latter had opposed the
Union, and had many claims upon the national grati-
tude.' 34 ' The topic was one which required to be most
delicately touched, and no orator could treat it Avith a
more exquisite nicety than Mr. Fitzgerald. He became,
as he advanced, and the recollection of his father pressed
itself more immediately upon his mind, more impas-
sioned. At the moment he was speaking, his father,
to whom he is most tenderly attached, and by whom
he is most beloved, was lying upon a bed from whence
it was believed that he would never rise, and efforts
had been made to conceal from the old man the contest
in which his son was involved. It is impossible to mis-
take genuine grief, and when Mr. Fitzgerald paused
for an instant, and turning away, wiped off the tears
that came streaming from his eyes, he won the sym-
pathies of every one about him. There were few who
did not give the same evidence of emotion ; and when
he sat down, although the great majority of the
audience were strongly opposed to him, and were

* The father of Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald was the Right Honourable
James Fitzgerald, who] in 1799 threw up his office of Prime Serjeant,
in order to oppose the measure of the Legislative Union an act of
patriotism and self-devotion which justly entitled him to the respect and
gratitude of Irishmen.

THE CLAEE ELECTION. 129

enthusiasts in favour of the rival candidate, a loud and
unanimous burst of acclamation shook the Court-house.

Mr. O'Connell rose to address the people in reply.
It was manifest that he considered a great exertion to
"be requisite in order to do away the impression which
his antagonist had produced. It was clear that he was
collecting all his might, to those who were acquainted
with the workings of his physiognomy. Mr. O'Connell
bore Mr. Fitzgerald no sort of personal aversion, but
he determined, in this exigency, to have little mercy
on his feelings, and to employ all the power of vitupe-
ration of which he was possessed, against him. This
was absolutely necessary ; for if mere dexterous fencing
had been resorted to by Mr. O'Connell, many might
have gone away with the opinion that, after all, Mr.
Fitzgerald had been thanklessly treated by the Catholic
body. It was therefore disagreeably requisite to render
him, for the moment, odious.

Mr. O'Connell began by awakening the passions of
the multitude in an attack on Mr. Fitzgerald's allies.
Mr. Gore had lauded him highly. This Mr. Gore is
of Cromwellian descent, and the people detest the
memory of the Protector to this day. There is a tradition
(I know not whether it has the least foundation) that
the ancestor of this gentleman's family was a nailer by
trade in the Puritan army. Mr. O'Connell, without
any direct reference to the fact, used a set of meta-
phors, such as " striking the nail on the head,"
" putting a nail into a coffin," which at once recalled
the associations which were attached to the name of
Mr. Gore ; and roars of laughter assailed that gentle-
man on every side. Mr. Gore has the character of
being not only very opulent, but of bearing a regard

VOL. II. K

130 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

to liis possessions proportioned to their extent. No-
thing is so unpopular as prudence in Ireland;- and
Mr. O'Connell rallied Mr. Gore to such a point upon
this head, and that of his supposed origin, that the
latter completely sunk under the attack. He next pro-
ceeded to Mr. Fitzgerald, and, having drawn a picture
of the late Mr. Perceval, he turned round and asked of
the rival candidate, with what face he could call himself
their friend, when the first act of his political life was
to enlist himself under the banners of "the bloody
Perceval." This epithet (whether it be well or ill
deserved is not the question) was sent into the hearts
of the people with a force of expression, and a furious
vehemence of voice, that created a great sensation
amongst the crowd, and turned the tide against Mr.
Fitzgerald. " This too," said Mr. O'Connell, " is the
friend of Peel, the bloody Perceval, and the candid
and manly Mr. Peel, and he is our friend ! and he is
everybody's friend ! The friend of the Catholic was
the friend of the bloody Perceval, and is the friend of
the candid and manly Mr. Peel !"

It is unnecessary to go through Mr. O'Connell's
speech. It was stamped with all his powerful charac-
teristics, and galled Mr. Fitzgerald to the core. That
gentleman frequently muttered an interrogatory, "Is
this fair?" when Mr. O'Connell was using some legiti-
mate sophistication against him. He seemed particu-
larly offended when his adversary said, " I never shed
tears in public," which was intended as a mockery of
Mr. Fitzgerald's references to his father. It will be
thought by some sensitive persons that Mr. O'Connell
was not quite warranted in this harsh dealing, but he
had no alternative. Mr. Fitzgerald had made a very

THE CLARE ELECTION. 131

powerful speech, and the effect was to be got rid of.
In such a warfare a man must not pause in the selec-
tion of his weapons, and Mr. O'Connell is not the man
to hesitate in the use of the rhetorical sabre.

Nothing of any peculiar interest occurred after
Mr. O'ConnelPs speech upon the first day. On the
second the polling commenced; and on that day, in
consequence of an expedient adopted by Mr. Fitz-
gerald's committee, the parties were nearly equal. A
Catholic freeholder cannot, in strictness, vote at an
election without making a certain declaration upon
oath respecting his religious opinions, and obtaining a
certificate of his having done so from a magistrate. It
is usual for candidates to agree to dispense with the
necessity of taking this oath. It was, however, of
importance to Mr. Fitzgerald to delay the election;
and with that view his committee required that the
declaration should be taken. Mr. O'Connell's com-
mittee were unprepared for this form, and it was with
the utmost difficulty that magistrates could be procured
to attend to receive the oath. It was therefore impos-
sible, on the first day, for Mr. O'Connell to bring his
forces into the field, and thus the parties appeared nearly
equal. To those who did not know the real cause of
this circumstance, it appeared ominous, and the O'Con-
ncllites looked sufficiently blank; but the next "day
everything was remedied.

The freeholders were sworn en masse. They were
brought into a yard inclosed within four walls.
Twenty-five were placed against each wall, and they
simultaneously repeated the oath When one batch of
swearers had been disposed of, the person who adminis-
tered the declaration, turned to the adjoining division,

X 2

132 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

and despatched them. Thus he went through the
quadrangle, and in the course of a few minutes was
able to discharge one hundred patriots upon Mr. Fitz-
gerald. It may be said that an oath ought to be more
solemnly administered. In reply, it is only necessary
to observe, that the declaration in question related
principally to "the Pretender," and when the legis-
lature persevere in compelling the name of God to be
thus taken in vain, the ritual becomes appropriately
farcical, and the manner of the thing is only adapted
to the ludicrous matter upon which it is legally requisite
that Heaven should be attested. The oath which is
imposed upon a Roman Catholic is a violation of the
first precept of the decalogue.

This species of machinery having been thus applied
to the art of swearing, the effects upon the poll soon
became manifest, and Mr. O'Connell ascended to a
triumphant majority. It became clear that the land-
lords had lost all their power, and that their struggles
were utterly hopeless. Still they persevered in drag-
ging the few serfs whom they had under their control
to the hustings, and in protracting the election. It
was Mr. Fitzgerald's own wish, I believe, to abandon
the contest, when its ultimate issue was already certain;
but his friends insisted that the last man whom they
could command should be polled out. Thus the elec-
tion was procrastinated. In ordinary cases the interval
between the first and the last day of polling is mono-
tonous and dull; but during the Clare election, so
many ludicrous and extraordinary incidents were every
moment occurring, as to relieve any attentive observer
from every influence of ennui.

The writer of this article was under the necessity of

THE CLAEE ELECTION. 133

remaining during the day in the Sheriff's booth, where
questions of law were chiefly discussed, but even here
there was much matter for entertainment. The Sheriff
afforded a perpetual fund of amusement. He sat with
his wand of office leaning against his shoulder, and
always ready for his grasp. When there was no actual
business going forward, he still preserved a magisterial
dignity of deportment, and with half-closed eye-lids, and
throwing back his head, and forming with his chin an
obtuse angle with the horizon, reproved any indulgence
in illicit mirth which might chance to pass amongst
the Bar. The gentlemen who were professionally en-
gaged having discovered the chief foible of the Sheriff,
which consisted in the most fantastical notions of him-
self, vied with each other in playing upon this weak-
ness. " I feel that I address myself to the first man of
the county," was the usual exordium with which each
legal argument was opened.

The Sheriff, instead of perceiving the sneer which
involuntarily played round the lips of the mocking
sycophant, smiled with an air of Malvolio condescen-
sion, and bowed his head. Then came some noise from
the adjoining booths, upon which the Sheriff used to
start up and exclaim, " I declare I do not think that I
am treated with proper respect verily I'll go forth and
quell this tumult Fll show them I am the first
man in the county, and Fll commit somebody." With
that, " the first man in the county," with a step slightly
accelerated by his resentment at a supposed indignity
to himself, used to proceed in quest of a riot, but
generally returned with a good-humoured expression
of face, observing, " It was only Mr. O'Connell, and
I must say when I remonstrated with him, he paid me

134 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

every sort of proper respect. He is quite a different
person from what I had heard. But let nobody imagine
that I was afraid of him. Fd commit him, or Mr. Vesey
Fitzgerald, if I was not treated with proper respect;
for by virtue of my office, I am the first man in the
county." This phrase of the Sheriff became so fami-
liar, that a set of wags, who in their intervals of
leisure, had set about practising mimicry, emulated
each other in repeating it, and succeeded in producing
various pleasant imitations of the " first man in the
county."

These vagaries enlivened occupations which in tlicir
nature were sufficiently dull. But the Sheriff's booth
afforded matter more deserving of note than his singu-
larities. Charges of undue influence were occasionally
brought forward, which exhibited the character of the
election in its strongest colours. One incident I par-
ticularly remember. An attorney employed by Mr.
Fitzgerald rushed in and exclaimed that a priest was
terrifying the voters. This accusation produced a
powerful effect. The counsel for Mr. O'Connell defied
the attorney to make out his charge. The assessor very
properly required that the priest should attend; and
behold Father Murphy of Corofin !

His solemn and spectral aspect struck every body.
He advanced with fearlessness to the bar, behind which
the Sheriff was seated, and inquired what the charge
was which had been preferred against him, with a
smile of ghastly derision. " You were looking at my
voters," cries the attorney. "But I said nothing,'"'
replied the priest, "and I suppose that I am to be
permitted to look at my parishioners." "Not with
such a face as that ! " cried Mr. Dogherty, one of

THE CLABE ELECTION. 135

Mr. Fitzgerald's counsel. This produced a loud laugh ;
for, certainly, the countenance of Father Murphy was
fraught with no ordinary terrors. " And this, then/*
exclaimed Mr. O'ConnelFs counsel, " is the charge you
bring against the priests ? Let us see if there be an
Act of Parliament which prescribes that a Jesuit shall
wear a mask." At this instant, one of the agents of
Mr. (yConnell precipitated himself into the room, and
cried out, "Mr. Sheriff, we have no fair play Mr.
Singleton is frightening his tenants he caught hold
of one of them just now, and threatened vengeance
against him."

This accusation came admirably apropos. " What ! "
exclaimed the advocate of Mr. O' Council, " is this to be
endured ? Do we live in a free country, and under a
constitution ? Is a landlord to commit a battery with
impunity, and is a priest to be indited for his physiog-
nomy, and to be found guilty of a look?" Thus a
valuable set-off against Father Murphy's eyebrows was
obtained. After a long debate, the assessor decided
that, if either a priest or a landlord actually interrupted
the poll, they should be indiscriminately committed;
but thought the present a case only for admonition.
Father Murphy was accordingly restored to his physiog-
nomical functions.

The matter had been scarcely disposed of, when a
loud shout was heard from the multitude outside the
Court-house, which had gathered in thousands, and yet
generally preserved a profound tranquillity. The large
window in the Sheriff's booth gave an opportunity of
observing whatever took place in the square below ; and,
attracted by the tremendous uproar, every body ran to
see what was going on amongst the crowd. The tumult

136 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

was produced by the arrival of some hundred free-
holders from Kilrush, with their landlord, Mr. Vandeleur,
at their head. He stood behind a carriage, and, with
his hat off, was seen vehemently addressing the tenants
who followed him. It was impossible to hear a word
which he uttered; but his gesture was sufficiently
significant ; he stamped, and waved his hat, and shook
his clenched hand. While he thus adjured them, the
crowd through which they were passing, assailed them
with cries, " Vote for your country, boys ! Vote for the
old religion ! Three cheers for liberty ! Down with
Vesey, and hurra for O'Connell ! " These were the
exclamations which rent the air, as they proceeded.
They followed their landlord until they had reached a
part of the square where Mr. O'Connell lodged, and
before which a large platform had been erected, which
communicated with the window of his apartment, and
to which he could advance whenever it was necessary
to address the people. When Mr. Vandeleur's free-
holders had attained this spot, Mr. O'Connell rushed
forward on the platform, and lifted up his arm. A
tremendous shout succeeded, and in an instant Mr.
Vandeleur was deserted by his tenants.

This platform exhibited some of the most remarkable
scenes which were enacted in this strange drama of
" The Clare Election/' It was sustained by pillars of
wood, and stretched out several feet from the wall to
which it was attached. Some twenty or thirty persons
could stand upon it at the same time. A large quantity
of green boughs were wreathed about it ; and from the
sort of bower which they formed, occasional orators
addressed the people during the day. Mr. M'Dermot,
a young gentleman from the county of Galway, of

THE CLARE ELECTION. 137

considerable fortune, and a great deal of talent as a
speaker, used to harangue the multitude with great
effect. Father Sheehan, a clergyman from Waterford,
who had been mainly instrumental in the overthrow
of the Beresfords, also displayed from this spot his
eminent popular abilities. A Dr. Kenny, a Waterford
surgeon, thinking that "the times were out of joint,"
came "to set them right/' Father Maguire, Mr.
Lawless, indeed the whole company of orators, per-
formed on this theatre with indefatigable energy. Mirth
and declamation, and anecdote and grotesque delinea-
tion, and mimicry, were all blended together for the
public entertainment.

One of the most amusing and attractive topics was
drawn from the adherence of Father Coffey to Mr.
Fitzgerald. His manners, his habits, his dress, were
all selected as materials for ridicule and invective ; and
puns, not the less effective because they were obvious,
were heaped upon his name. The scorn and detestation
with which he was treated by the mob, clearly proved
that a priest has no influence over them when he
attempts to run counter to their political passions.
He can hurry them on in the career into which their
own feelings impel them, but he cannot turn them into
another course. Many incidents occurred about this
rostrum, which, if matter did not crowd too fast upon
me, I should stop to detail. I have not room for a
minute narration of all that was interesting at this
election, which would occupy a volume, and must
limit myself to one, but that a very striking circum-
stance.

The generality of the orators were heard with loud
and clamorous approbation, but, at a late hour, one

138 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

evening, and when it was growing rapidly dark, a priest
came forward on the platform, who addressed the
multitude in Irish. There was not a word uttered by
the people. Ten thousand peasants were assembled
before the speaker, and a profound stillness hung over
the living, but almost breathless mass. For minutes
they continued thus deeply attentive, and seemed to be
struck with awe as he proceeded. Suddenly, I saw the
whole multitude kneel down, in one concurrent genu-
flection. They were engaged in silent prayer, and
when the priest arose (for he too had knelt down on
the platform), they also stood up together from their
orison. The movement was performed with the facility
of a regimental evolution. I asked (being unacquainted
with the language) what it was that had occasioned
this extraordinary spectacle? and was informed that
the orator had stated to the people that one of his own
parishioners, who had voted for Mr. Fitzgerald, had
just died; and he called upon the multitude to pray to
God for the repose of his soul, and the forgiveness of
the offence which he had committed in taking the
Bribery Oath. Money, it seems, had been his induce-
ment to give his suffrage against Mr. O'Connell.
Individuals, in reading this, will exclaim, perhaps,
against these expedients for the production of effect
upon the popular passions. Let me observe in paren-
thesis, that the fault of all this (if it is to be condemned)
does not lie with the Association, with the priesthood,
or with the people, but with the law, which has, by its
system of anomalies and alienations, rendered the
national mind susceptible of such impressions. But I
proceed.

Thus it was the day passed, and it was not until

THE CLABE ELECTION. 139

nearly nine o'clock that those who were actively en-
gaged in the election went to dinner. There a new
scene was opened. In a small room in a mean tavern,
kept by a Mrs. Cannody, the whole body of leading
patriots, counsellors, attorneys, and agents, with divers
interloping partakers of election hospitality, were cram-
med and piled upon one another, while Mr. O'Connell sat
at the head of the feast almost overcome with fatigue,
but yet sustained by that vitality which success pro-
duces. Enormous masses of beef, pork, mutton, turkeys,
tongues, and fowl were strewed upon the deal boards,
at which the hungry masticators proceeded to their
operations. For some time nothing was heard but the
clatter of the utensils of eating, interrupted by an occa-
sional hob-nobbing of " The Counsellor/' who, with his
usual abstinence, confined himself to water. The crav-
ings of the stomach having been satisfied, the more
intellectual season of potations succeeded. A hundred
tumblers of punch, with circular slices of lemon, dif-
fused the essence of John Barleycorn in profuse and
fragrant streams. Loud cries for hot water, spoons,
and materials, were everywhere heard, and huge jugs
were rapidly emptied and replenished by waiters, who
would have required ubiquity to satisfy all the demands
upon their attention. Toasts were then proposed
and speeches pronounced, and the usual "hip, hip,
hurra ! " with unusual accompaniments of exultation,
followed.

The feats of the day were then narrated ; the blank
looks of Ned Hickman, whose face had lost all its
natural hilarity, and looked at the election like a full
moon in a storm ; the shroud-coloured physiognomy of
Mr. Sampson; and the tears of Sir Edward O'Brien,

140 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

were alternately the subjects of merriment. Mr. Why te
was then called upon for an imitation of the Sheriff,
when he used to ride upon an elephant at Calcutta.
But in the midst of this conviviality, which was height-
ened by the consciousness that there was no bill to be
paid by gentlemen who were the guests of their country,
and long before any inebriating effect was observable, a
solemn and spectral figure used to stride in, like the
ghost of Hamlet, and the same deep churchyard voice
which had previously startled my ears raised its awful
peal, while it exclaimed " The wolf, the wolf is on the
walk. Shepherds of the people, what do you here ? Is
it meet that you should sit carousing and in joyance,
while the freeholders remain unprovided, and tempta-
tion, in the shape of famine, is amongst them ? Arise,
I say, arise from your cups, the wolf, the wolf is on
the walk!"

Such was the disturbing and heart-appalling adjura-
tion of Father Murphy of Corofin, whose enthusiastic
sense of duty never deserted him, and who, when the
feast was unfinished, entered like the figure of Death
which the Egyptians employed at their banquets. He
walked round the room with a measured pace, like the
envoy of another world, chasing the revellers before
him, and repeating the same dismal warning "The
wolf, the wolf is upon the walk !"

Nothing was comparable to the aspect of Father
Murphy upon these occasions, except the physiognomy
of Mr. Lawless. This gentleman, who had been use-
fully exerting himself during the whole day, somewhat
reasonably expected that he should be permitted to
enjoy the just rewards of patriotism for a few hours
without any nocturnal molestation. It was about the

THE CLARE ELECTION. 141

time that lie had just commenced his second tumbler,
and when the exhilarating influence of his eloquent
chalices was beginning to display itself, that the dismal
cry was wont to come upon him. The look of piteous
despair with which he surveyed this unrelenting foe to
conviviality, was almost as ghastly as that of his merci-
less disturber ; and as, like another Tantalus, he saw
the draughts of pleasantness hurried away, a school-
master, who sat by him, and who " was abroad" during
the election, used to exclaim

Flumina-

A labris sitiens fugientia captat

It was in vain to remonstrate against Father Murphy,
who insisted that the whole company should go forth to
meet " the wolf upon the walk."

Upon going down stairs, the lower apartments were
found thronged with freeholders and priests. To the
latter had been assigned the office of providing food for
such of the peasants as lived at too great distance from
the town to return immediately home; and each clergy-
man was empowered to give an order to the victuallers
and tavern-keepers to furnish the bearer with a certain
quantity of meat and beer. The use of whiskey was
forbidden. There were two remarkable features ob-
servable in the discharge of this office. The peasant,
who had not tasted food perhaps for twenty-four hours,
remained in perfect patience and tranquillity until his
turn arrived to speak "to his reverence;" and the
Catholic clergy continued with unwearied assiduity,
and the most amiable solicitude, though themselves
quite exhausted with fatigue, in the performance of this
necessary labour. There they stayed until a late hour

142 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

in the morning, and until every claimant had been con-
tented. It is not wonderful that such men, animated
by such zeal, and operating upon so grateful and so
energetic a peasantry, should have effected what they
succeeded in aceomplisliing.

143

THE CLARE ELECTION.

[XOTEJIBEE, 1828.]
O'CONNELL RETTJKNE1).

THE poll at length closed; and, after an excellent
argument delivered by the assessor, Mr. Richard
Keatinge, he instructed the Sheriff to return Mr.
O'Connell as duly elected.* The Court-house was
again crowded, as upon the first day, and Mr. Fitz-
gerald appeared at the head of the defeated aristocracy.
They looked profoundly melancholy. Mr. Fitzgerald
himself did not affect to disguise the deep pain which
he felt ; but preserved that gracefulness and perfect
good temper which had characterized him during the
contest, and which, at its close, disarmed hostility of all
its rancour. Mr. O'Connell made a speech distin-
guished by just feeling and good taste, and begged that

* Mr. Keatinge is the present Judge of the Prerogative Court in
Ireland. The polling terminated on the 5th July, 1828, the election
having lasted six days. The votes were, for O'Connell 2,057, for Fitz-
gerald 982 majority 1,075. The question whether Mr. O'Connell,
being a Roman Catholic, could be legally returned, was formally argued
before the Assessor, who ruled that the election was valid ; leaving it to
be decided by the House of Commons what oaths were necessary to
qualify a Roman Catholic to sit and vote.

144 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Mr. Fitzgerald would forgive him, if lie had upon the
first day given him any sort of offence. Mr. Fitzgerald
came forward and unaffectedly assured him, that what-
ever was said should he forgotten. He was again hailed
with universal acclamation, and delivered a speech, which
could not surpass, in good judgment and persuasiveness,
that with which he had opened the contest, but was not
inferior to it. He left an impression, which hereafter
will, in all probability, render his return for the county
of Clare a matter of certainty; and, upon the other
hand, I feel convinced that he has himself carried away
from the scene of that contention, in which he sustained
a defeat, but lost no honour, a conviction that not only
the interests of Ireland, but the safety of the empire,
require that the claims of seven millions of his fellow-
citizens should be conceded. Mr. Fitzgerald, during
the progress of the election, could not refrain from
repeatedly intimating his astonishment at what he saw,
and from indulging in melancholy forebodings of the
events, of which these incidents are perhaps but the
heralds. To do him justice, he appeared at moments
utterly to forget himself, and to be absorbed in the
melancholy presages which pressed themselves upon
him. " Where is all this to end ?" was a question fre-
quently put in his presence, and from which he seemed
to shrink.

At the close of the poll, Mr. Sheil delivered a speech,
in which the views of the writer of this article were
expressed ; and as no faithful account of what he said
upon that occasion appeared in the London papers, an
extract from his observations will be justified not by
any merit in the composition as a piece of oratory, but
by the sentiments of the speaker, which appear to me to
be just, and were suggested by the scenes in which he

THE CLARE ELECTION. 145

had taken a part. The importance of the subject may
give a claim to attention, which in other instances the
speaker may not be entitled to command. He spoke in
the following terms :

"I own that I am anxious to avail myself of this
opportunity to make a reparation to Mr. Fitzgerald.
Before I had the honour of hearing that gentleman,
and of witnessing the mild and conciliatory demeanour
by which he is distinguished, I had in another place
expressed myself with regard to his political conduct,
in language to which I believe that Mr. Fitzgerald re-
ferred upon the first day of the election, and which was
perhaps too deeply tinctured with that virulence, which
is almost inseparable from the passions by which this
country is so unhappily divided. It is but an act of
justice to Mr. Fitzgerald to say, that, however we may
be under the necessity of opposing him as a Member of
an Administration hostile to our body, it is impossible
to entertain towards him a sentiment of individual
animosity; and I confess, that, after having observed
the admirable temper with which he encountered his
antagonists, I cannot but regret that, before I had the
means of forming a just estimate of his personal cha-
racter, I should have indulged in remarks, in which too
much acidity may have been infused.

" The situation in which Mr. Fitzgerald was placed,
was peculiarly trying to his feelings. He had been long
in possession of this County. Though we considered
him as an inefficient friend, we were not entitled to
account him an opponent. Under these circumstances
it may have appeared harsh, and perhaps unkind, that
we should have selected him as the first object for the
manifestation of our power ; another would have found

VOL. II. L

146 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

it difficult not to give way to the language of resentment
and of reproach, but so far from doing so, his defence
of himself was as strongly marked by forbearance as it
was by ability. I thought it, however, not altogether
impossible that before the fate of this election was
decided, Mr. Fitzgerald might have been merely prac-
tising an expedient of wily conciliation, and that when
he appeared so meek and self-controlled in the midst of
a contest which would have provoked the passions of any
ordinary man, he was only stifling his resentment, in the
hope that he might succeed in appeasing the violence of
the opposition with which he had to contend.

" But Mr. Fitzgerald, in the demeanour which he has
preserved to-day, after the election has concluded with
his defeat, has given proof that his gentleness of deport-
ment was not affected and artificial ; and, now that he
has no object to gain, we cannot but give him as ample
credit for his sincerity, as we must give him for that
persuasive gracefulness by which his manners are dis-
tinguished. Justly has he said that he has not lost a
friend in this country ; and he might have added that,
so far from having incurred any diminution of regard
among those who were attached to him, he has appeased
to a great extent the vehemence of that political enmity
in which the associate of Mr. Peel was not very un-
naturally held.

" But, Sir, while I have thus made the acknowledg-
ment which was due to Mr. Fitzgerald, let me not dis-
guise my own feelings of legitimate, but not I hope
offensive exultation at the result of this great contest,
that has attracted the attention of the English people
beyond all example. I am not mean enough to indulge
in any contumelious vaunting over one who has sus-
tained his defeat with so honourable a magna iiimity

THE CLARE ELECTION. 147

The victory which has been achieved, has been obtained
not so much over Mr. Fitzgerald, as over the faction
with which I excuse him to a great extent for having
been allied. A great display of power has been made
by the Catholic Association, and that manifestation of
its influence over the national mind, I regard as not
only a very remarkable, but a very momentous incident.
Let us consider what has taken place, in order that we
may see this singular political phenomenon in its just
light. It is right that we attentively survey the extra-
ordinary facts before us, in order that we may derive
from them the moral admonitions which they are cal-
culated to supply. What then has happened? Mr.
Fitzgerald was promoted to a place in the Duke of
Wellington's councils, and the representation of this
great County became vacant. The Catholic Association
determined to oppose him, and at first view the under-
taking seemed to be desperate. Not a single Protestant
gentleman could be procured to enter the lists, and in
the want of any other candidate, Mr. O'Connell stood
forward on behalf of the people.*

" Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald came into the field encom-
passed with the most signal advantages. His father is
a gentleman of large estate, and had been long and
deservedly popular in Ireland. Mr. Fitzgerald himself,

* It is a curious fact, that the idea of a movement pregnant with re-
sults so important to the Catholic cause, occurred first to a Protestant gen-
tleman of the name of Sir David Roose, who had in the previous year been
sheriff of Dublin. Eoose suggested it to Mr. Patrick Vincent Fitzpatrick,
one of Mr. CXConnell's most intimate and devoted friends, to whose memory
it then recurred that Mr. John Keogh, an experienced Cathoh'c leader of
the past generation, had frequently given an opinion that emancipation
would only be achieved by the return of a Catholic to Parliament, under
the existing laws. See the papers entitled " Catholic Leaders and
Associations," where the subject ia again introduced,

L 2

148 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

inheriting a portion of the popular favour with a favour-
ite name, had for twenty years been placed in such
immediate contiguity with power, that he was enabled
to circulate a large portion of the influence of Govern-
ment through this fortunate district. There is scarcely
a single family of any significance among you, which
does not labour under Mr. Fitzgerald's obligations. At
this moment it is only necessary to look at him, with
the array of aristocracy beside him, in order to per-
ceive upon what a high position for victory he was
placed. He stands encompassed by the whole gentry
of the county of Clare, who, as they stood by him in the
hour of battle, come here to cover his retreat. Almost
every gentleman of rank and fortune appears as his
auxiliary; and the gentry, by their aspect at this
instant, as well as by their devotedness during the
election, furnish evidence that in his person their own
cause was to be asserted.

" To this combination of favourable circumstances,
to the promising friend, to the accomplished gentleman,
to the eloquent advocate, at the head of all the patri-
cian opulence of the County, what did we oppose?
We opposed the power of the Catholic Association, and
with that tremendous engine we have beaten the Cabi-
net Minister, and the phalanx of aristocracy by which
he is surrounded, to the ground. Why do I mention
these things? Is it for the purpose (God forbid that
it should) of wounding the feelings or exasperating the
passions of any man ? No ! but in order to exhibit the
almost marvellous incidents which have taken place, in
the light in which they ought to be regarded, and to
present them in all their appalling magnitude. Pro-
testants who hear me, Gentlemen of the County Clare,
you whom I address with boldness, perhaps, but cer-

THE CLARE ELECTION. 149

tainly not with any purpose to give you offence, let me
entreat your attention.

"A Baronet of rank and fortune, Sir Edward O'Brien,
has asked whether this was a condition of things to be
endured ; he has expatiated upon the extraordinary in-
fluence which has been exercised in order to effect these
signal results; and, after dwelling upon many other
grounds of complaint, he has with great force inveighed
against the severance which we have created between
the landlord and tenant. Let it not be imagined that
I mean to deny that we have had recourse to the expe-
dients attributed to us; on the contrary, I avow it.
We have put a great engine into action, and applied
the entire force of that powerful machinery which the
law has placed under our control. We are masters of
the passions of the people, and we have employed our
dominion with a terrible effect. But, Sir, do you, or
any man here, imagine that we could have acquired
this dreadful ability to sunder the strongest ties by
which the different classes of society are fastened, unless
we found the materials of excitement in the state of
society itself? Do you think that Mr. Daniel O'Con-
nell has himself, and by the single powers [of his own
mind, unaided by any external co-operation, brought
the country to this great crisis of agitation? Mr.
O'Connell, with all his talents for excitation, would have
been utterly powerless and incapable, unless he had
been allied with a great conspirator against the public
peace ; and I will tell you who that confederate is it
is the Law of the land itself that has been Mr. O'Con-
nelFs main associate, and that ought to be denounced as
the mighty agitator of Ireland. The rod of oppression
is the wand of this potent enchanter of the passions,
and the book of his spells is the Penal Code. Break

150 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

tlie wand of this political Prospero, and take from him
the volume of his magic, and he will evoke the spirits
which are now under his control, no longer.

" But why should I have recourse to illustration which
may be accounted fantastical, in order to elucidate what
is in itself so plain and obvious ? Protestant gentle-
men, who do me the honour to listen to me, look, I pray
you, a little dispassionately at the real causes of the events
which have taken place amongst you. I beg of you to
put aside your angry feelings for an instant, and believe
me that I am far from thinking that you have no good
ground for resentment. It must be most painful to the
proprietors of this County to be stripped in an instant
of all their influence ; to be left destitute of all sort of
sway over their dependents, and to see a few demagogues
and priests usurping their natural authority. This feel-
ing of resentment must be aggravated by the conscious-
ness that they have not deserved such a return from
their tenants ; and as I know Sir Edward O'Brien to be
a truly benevolent landlord, I can well conceive that
the apparent ingratitude with which he was treated, has
added to the pain which every landlord must experience;
and I own that I was not surprised to sec tears bursting
from his eyes, while his face was inflamed with the emo-
tions to which it was not in human nature that he
should not give way.

" But let Sir Edward O'Brien, and his fellow-pro-
prietors, who are gathered about him, f recollcct, that the
facility and promptitude with which the peasantry have
thrown off their allegiance, are owing not so much to
any want of just moral feeling on the part of the people,
as to the operation of causes for which the people arc
not to blame. In rio other country, except in this,
would such a revolution have been effected. Wherefore?

THE CLARE ELECTION. 151

Because in no other country are the people divided
by the law from their superiors, and cast into the hands
of a set of men, who are supplied with the means of
national excitement by the system of Government
under which we live. Surely no man can believe that
such an anomalous body as the Catholic Association
could exist, excepting in a community which had been
alienated from the State by the State itself. The dis-
content and the resentment of seven millions of the
population have generated that domestic government
winch sways through the force of public opinion, and
uses the national passions as the instruments for the
execution of its will. From that body there has now
been issuing, for many years, a continuous supply of
exciting matter, which has overflowed the nation's
mind. The lava has covered and inundated the whole
country, and is still flowing, and will continue to flow
from its volcanic source. But, if I may so say, the
Association is but the crater in which the fiery matter
finds a vent, while its fountain is in the depth of the law
itself. It would be utterly impossible, if all men were
placed upon equality of citizenship, and there were no
exasperating distinctions amongst us, to create any
artificial causes of discontent. Let men declaim for a
century, with far higher powers than any Catholic
agitator is endowed with, and if they have no real
ground of public grievance to rest upon, their harangues
will be empty sound and idle air. But when what they
tell the people is true when they are sustained by sub-
stantial facts, then effects are produced, of which what
has taken place at this election is only an example.
The whole body of the people being grievously inflamed
and rendered susceptible, the moment any incident
such as this election, occurs, all the popular passions

152 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

start simultaneously up, and bear down every obstacle
before them. Do not, therefore, be surprised that the
peasantry should thus at once throw off their allegiance
to you, when they are under the operation of emotions
which it would be wonderful if they could resist. The
feeling by which they are now actuated would make
them not only vote against their landlords, but would
make them rush into the field, scale the batteries of a
fortress, and mount the breach; and, gentlemen, give
me now leave to ask you, whether, after a due reflec-
tion upon the motives by which your vassals (for so
they are accounted) are governed, you will be disposed
to exercise any measure of severity in their regard.

" I hear it said, that before many days go by, there
will be many tears shed in the hovels of your slaves,
and that you will take a terrible vengeance of their
treason. I trust in God that you will not, when your
own passions have subsided, and your blood has had
time to cool, persevere in such a cruel, and let me add,
such an unjustifiable determination. Consider, gentle-
men, whether a great allowance should not be made for
the offence which they have committed. If they are,
as you say they are, under the influence of fanaticism,
I would say to you, that such an influence affords many
circumstances of extenuation, and that you should for-
give them, 'for they know not what they do/ They
have followed their priests to the hustings, and they
would follow them to the scaffold. But you will ask,
wherefore should they prefer their priests to their land-
lords, and have purer reverence for the altars of their
religion, than for the counter on which you calculate
your rents ? Ah, gentlemen, consider a little the rela-
tion in which the priest stands towards the peasant.
Let us put the priest into one scale, and the landlord

THE CLAEE ELECTION. 153

into the other, and let us see which should preponderate.
I will take an excellent landlord and an excellent priest.
The landlord shall be Sir Edward O'Brien, and the
priest shall be Mr. Murphy of Corofin. Who is Sir
Edward O'Brien ? A gentleman who has a great for-
tune, who lives in a splendid mansion, and who, from
the windows of a palace, looks upon possessions almost
as wide as those which his ancestors beheld from the
summit of their feudal towers. His tenants pay him
their rent twice a-year, and they have their land at a
moderate rate. So much for the landlord.

" I come now to Father Murphy of Corofin. Where
does he reside? In an humble abode, situate at the
foot of a mountain, and in the midst of dreariness and
waste. He dwells in the midst of his parishioners, and
is their benefactor, their friend, their father. It is not
only in the actual ministry of the sacraments of religion
that he stands as an object of affectionate reverence
among them. I saw him, indeed, at his altar, sur-
rounded by thousands, and felt myself the influence of
his contagious and enthusiastic devotion. He addressed
the people in the midst of a rude edifice, and in a lan-
guage which I did not understand ; but I could perceive
what a command he has over the minds of his devoted
followers. But it is not merely as the celebrator of the
rites of Divine Worship that he is dear to his flock .; he
is their companion, the mitigator of their calamities, the
soother of their afflictions, the trustee of their hearts,
the repository of their secrets, the guardian of their
interests, and the sentinel of their death-beds. A
peasant is dying in the midst of the winter's night, a
knock is heard at the door of the priest, and he is told
that his parishioner requires his spiritual assistance
the wind is howling, the snow descends upon the hills,

154 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

and the rain and storm beat against his face; yet he
goes forth, hurries to the hovel of the expiring wretch,
and taking his station beside the mass of pestilence of
which the bed of straw is composed, bends to receive
the last whisper which unloads the heart of its guilt,
though the lips of the sinner should be tainted with
disease, and he should exhale mortality in his breath.

" Gentlemen, this is not the language of artificial
declamation this is not the mere extravagance of rhe-
torical phrase. This, every word of this, is the truth
the notorious, palpable, and unquestionable truth.
You know it, every one of you know it to be true ; and
now let me ask you can you wonder for a moment that
the people should be attached to their clergy, and
should follow their ordinances as if they were the in-
junctions of God ? Gentlemen, forgive me, if I ven-
ture to supplicate, on behalf of your poor tenants, for
mercy to them. Pardon them, in the name of that
God who will forgive you your offences in the same
measure of compassion which you will show to the
trespasses of others. Do not, in the name of that
Heaven before whom every one of us, whether landlord,
priest, or tenant, must at last appear do not prosecute
these poor people : don't throw their children out upon
the public road don't send them forth to starve, to
shiver, and to die. For God's sake, Mr. Fitzgerald,
and for your own sake, and as you are a gentleman and
a man of honour, interpose your influence with your
friends, and redeem your pledge. I address myself
personally to you. On the first day of the election
you declared that you would deprecate all persecution
by the landlords, and that you were the last to wish
that harsh and vindictive measures should be employed.
I believe you and now I call upon you to redeem that

THE CLARE ELECTION. 155

pledge of merer, to fulfil that noble engagement, to
perform that great moral promise. You will cover
yourself with honour by so doing, in the same way that
you will share in the ignominy that will attend upon
any expedients of rigour. Before you leave this
country to assume your high functions, employ your-
self diligently in this work of benevolence, and enjoin
your friends with that eloquence of which you are the
master, to refrain from cruelty, and not to oppress their
tenants.

" Tell them, sir, that instead of busying themselves
in the worthless occupation of revenge, it is much fitter
that they should take the political condition of their
country into their deep consideration. Tell them that
they should address themselves to the Legislature, and
implore a remedy for these frightful evils. Tell them
to call upon the men, in whose hands the destiny of this
great empire is placed, to adopt a system of conciliation
and of peace, and to apply to Ireland the great canon of
political morality, which has been so powerfully ex-
pressed by the poet 'pads imponere morem.' Our
manners, our habits, our laws must be changed. The
evil is to be plucked out at the root. The cancer must
be cut out of the breast of the country. Let it not be
imagined that any measure of disfranchisement, that
any additional penalty, will afford a remedy. Things
have been permitted to advance to a height from which
they cannot be driven back.

"Protestants, awake to a sense of your condition.
Look round you. "What have you seen during this
election? Enough to make you feel that this is not
mere local excitation, but that seven millions of Irish
people are completely arrayed and organised. That
which you behold in Clare, you would behold, under

156 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

similar circumstances, in every county in the kingdom.
Did you mark our discipline, our subordination, our
good order, and that prophetic tranquillity, which is far
more terrible than any ordinary storm? You have
seen sixty thousand men under our command, and not
a hand was raised, and not a forbidden word was
uttered in that amazing multitude. You have beheld
an example of our power in the almost miraculous
sobriety of the people. Their lips have not touched
that infuriating beverage to which they are so much
attached, and their habitual propensity vanished at our
command. What think you of all this? Is it meet
and wise to leave us armed with such a dominion?
Trust us not with it; strip us of this appalling des-
potism ; annihilate us by concession ; extinguish us
with peace ; disarray us by equality ; instead of angry
slaves, make us contented citizens; if you do not,
tremble for the result."*

* The sequel of the Clare Election was briefly this. In the interval
between Mr. O'Connell's return and the meeting of Parliament, on the
6th February, 1829, the Cabinet yielded to the course of events, and the
Catholic Question was in fact carried. To avoid embarrassing the Govern-
ment, Mr. O'Connell waited until the Relief Bill was passed, and then
presented himself to the House of Commons, claiming to sit and vote
under the provisions of the new law, having been duly elected. He
argued his own case with consummate ability at the bar, but it was
decided, on the motion of the Solicitor-General, that "having been
returned before the commencement of the Act he was not entitled to sit
or vote without first taking the oath of Supremacy." The lawyers in
the House took different views of the question, which was probably
decided at least as much by party feelings as by legal principles. Some
members of the House, who were not lawyers, were for giving Mr.
O'Connell the benefit of the doubt that unquestionably existed on the
point of law. Mr. Wynn suggested a declaratory act in Mr. O'Connell's
favour. But neither of these courses was taken. A new writ was
ordered for the county of Clare, and Mr. O'Connell was again returned
without opposition.

157

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS.

[NOTEMBEB, 1828.]

CATHOLIC Associations have been of very long exist-
ence. The Confederates of 1642 were the precursors of
the Association of 1828. The Catholics entered into a
league for the assertion of their civil rights. They
opened their proceedings in the City of Kilkenny,
where the house is shown in which their assemblies
were held. They established two different bodies to
represent the Catholic people, namely, a general assem-
bly, and a supreme council. The first included all the
lords, prelates, and gentry of the Catholic body; and
the latter consisted of a few select members, chosen by
the general assembly out of the different provinces, who
acted as a kind of executive, and were recognised as
their supreme magistrates. These were "the Con-
federates." Carte, in his Life of Ormonde, calls them
"an Association." He adds, that the first result of
their union was an address to the King, in which they
demanded justice, and besought him " timely to assign
a place where they might with safety express their
grievances." On receiving this address, the King

158 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

issued a commission under the great seal, empowering
the commissioners to treat with " the Confederates/' to
receive in writing what they had to say or propound,
and to transmit it to his Majesty. This commission
was dated the llth of January, 1642. Ormonde says,
in one of his letters, that "the Lords Justices used
every endeavour to prevent the success of the com-
mission, and to impede the pacification of the country/'
The supreme council of " the Confederates" was sitting
at Ross, and a despatch was transmitted by the Lords
Justices to them, in which the phrase "odious rebellion"
was applied to their proceedings.

At this insult they took fire they had arms in their
hands, and returned an answer, in which they stated
"that it would be a meanness beyond expression in
them who fought in the condition of loyal subjects, to
come in the repute of rebels to set down their grievances.
We take God to witness," added they, " that there are
no limits set to the scorn and infamy that arc cast
upon us, and we will be in the esteem of loyal sub-
jects, or die to a man 1" A terrible civil war en-
sued. On the 28th of July, 1646, Lord Digby pub-
lished a proclamation of peace with the Confederates.
The Pope's Nuncio, Einuccini, induced the former to
reject the terms. The war raged on. At length, in
1648, Ormonde concluded a treaty with them; but
soon after Cromwell landed in Ireland, and crushed the
Catholics to the earth.

Thus an early precedent of a Catholic Association is
to be found at the distance of upwards of a hundred
and eighty-six years. I pass over the events of the
Revolution. The penal code was enacted. From the
Revolution to the reign of George the Second, the

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 159

Catholics were so depressed and abject, that they did
not dare to petition, and their very silence was fre-
quently the subject of imputation, as affording evidence
of a discontented and dissatisfied spirit. Upon the
accession of George the Second, in 1727, Lord Delvin,
and the principal of the Roman Catholic gentry, pre-
sented a servile address, to be laid by the Lord Justices
before the Throne. They were in a condition so utterly
despicable and degraded, that not even an answer was
returned. But Primate Boulter, who was a shrewd
and sagacious master of all the arts of colonial tyranny,
in a letter to Lord Carteret, intimates his apprehension
at this first act since the Revolution, of the Catholics
as a community; and immediately after they were
deprived of the elective franchise by the 1st Geo. II.
ch. 9, sec. 7.

The next year came a Bill which was devised by
Primate Boulter, to prevent Roman Catholics from
acting as solicitors. Here we find, perhaps, the origin
of the Catholic rent. Several Catholics in Cork and in
Dublin raised a subscription to defray the expense of
opposing the Bill, and an apostate priest gave informa-
tion of this conspiracy (for so it was called) to bring in
the Pope and the Pretender. The transaction was
referred to a Committee of the House of Commons,
who actually reported that five pounds had been col-
lected, and resolved " That it appeared to them, that
under pretence of opposing heads of bills, sums of
money had been collected, and a fund established by
the Popish inhabitants of this kingdom, highly detri-
mental to the Protestant interest." These were the
first efforts of the Roman Catholics to obtain relief, or,
rather, to prevent the imposition of additional burthens.

160 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

They did not, however, act through the medium of a
.committee or association.

It was in the year 1757, upon the appointment
of the Duke of Bedford to the viceroyalty of Ireland,
that a committee was for the first time formed, of
which the great model, perhaps, was to be discovered
in "the Confederates" of 1642; and ever since that
period, the affairs of the body have been more or less
conducted through the medium of assemblies of a
similar character. The Committee of 1757 may be
justly accounted the parent of the great convention
which has since brought its enormous seven millions
into action. The members of the Committee formed in
that year were delegated and actually chosen by the
people. They were a parliament invested with all the
authority of representation. Their first assembly was
held in a tavern called "The Globe," in Essex-street,
Dublin. After some sittings, Mr. "VVyse, of Waterford,
the ancestor of the gentleman who has lately made so
conspicuous a figure in Catholic politics, proposed a
plan of more extended delegation, which was at once
adopted. In 1759, this body was brought into recog-
nition by the State ; for, upon the alarm of the invasion
of Conflans, the Roman Catholic Committee prepared a
loyal address, which was presented to John Ponsonby,
the then speaker, by Messrs. Crump and Mac Dermot,
two delegates, to be transmitted by him to the Lord
Lieutenant. A gracious answer to this address was
returned, and published in the Gazette. The Speaker
summoned the two delegates to the House of Commons,
and the address was then read. Mr. Mac Dermot, in
the name of his body, thanked the Speaker for his con-
descension.

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 161

This was the first instance in which the political
existence of the Irish Catholics was acknowledged,
through the medium of their Committee. This recog-
nition, however, was not followed by any immediate
relaxation of the penal code. Twelve years elapsed
before any legislative measure was introduced which
indicated a more favourable disposition towards the
Catholic community, if, indeed, the llth and 12th of
George the Third can be considered as having con-
ferred any boon upon that degraded people. The
statute was entitled "An Act for the reclaiming of
unprofitable bogs/' and it enabled Papists to take fifty
acres of unprofitable bog for sixty-one years, with half
an acre of arable land adjoining, provided that it should
not be within one mile of a town.

The provisions of this Act of Parliament indicate to
what a low condition the great mass of the population
had been reduced, and illustrate the justice of Swift's
remark, that the Papists had become mere hewers of
wood and drawers of water. However, the first step
was taken in the progress of concession ; and every day
the might of numbers, even destitute of all territorial
possession, pressed more and more upon the Govern-
ment. The Catholic Committee pursued its course,
and in 1777 extorted the first important relaxation ; for
they acquired the right of taking leases for nine hun-
dred and ninety-nine years, and their landed property
was made descendible and deviseable, in the same
manner as Protestant estates. In 1782, the difficulties
of the Government augmented, and the Catholic Com-
mittee pressed the consideration of their claims upon
the ministry. By the 21st and 22nd of George the
Third, Papists were enabled to purchase and dispose of

VOL. II. M

162 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

landed property, and were placed, in that respect, upon
an equality with Protestants. Thus they were rashly
left beyond the state, but were furnished with that
point from which the engine of their power, has been
since wielded against it.

From 1782 until 1793, no farther concessions were
made; but the Catholics increased in power, until, in
1792, their Committee assumed a formidable aspect.
Theobald Wolfe Tone, in his Memoirs, gives the fol-
lowing account of what may be termed the Association
of that period: "The General Committee of the
Catholics, which, since the year 1782, has made a dis-
tinguished figure in the politics of Ireland, was a body
composed of their bishops, their country gentlemen,
and of a certain number of merchants and traders, all
resident in Dublin, but named by the Catholics in the
different towns corporate to represent them. The ori-
ginal object of this institution was to obtain the repeal
of a partial and oppressive tax called Quarterage, which
was levied on the Catholics only ; aud the Government,
which found the Committee at first a convenient instru-
ment on some occasions, connived at their existence.

" So degraded was the Catholic mind at the period of
the formation of their Committee, and long after, that
they were happy to be allowed to go up to the Castle
with an abominable slavish address to each successive
Viceroy ; of which, moreover, until the accession of
the Duke of Portland in 1782, so little notice Avas
taken, that his grace was the first who condescended to
give them an answer (N. B. this is a mistake) ; and,
indeed, for above twenty years, the sole business of the
General Committee was to prepare and deliver in those
records of their depression. The effort which an honest

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 163

indignation had called forth at the time of the Volun-
teer Convention of 1783, seemed to have exhausted
their strength, and they sunk back into their primitive
nullity. Under this appearance of apathy, however,,
a new spirit was gradually arising in the body, owing
principally to the exertions and the example of one
man, John Keogh, to whose services his country, and
more especially the Catholics, are singularly indebted.
In fact, the downfal of feudal tyranny was acted in
little on the theatre of the General Committee, The
influence of their clergy and of their barons was gra-
dually undermined ; and the third estate, the com-
mercial interest, rising in wealth and power, was
preparing by degrees to throw off the yoke, in the
imposing, or at least continuing of which, the leaders
of the body, I mean the prelates and the aristocracy,
to their disgrace be it spoken, were ready to concur.
Already had those leaders, acting in obedience to the
orders of the Government, which held them in fetters,
suffered one or two signal defeats in the Committee,
owing principally to the talents and address of John
Keogh ; the parties began to be denned, and a sturdy
democracy of new men, with bolder views and stronger
talents, soon superseded the timid counsels and slavish
measures of the ancient aristocracy."

Until John Keogh appeared amongst them, and
asserted that superiority in public assemblies which
genius and enterprise will always obtain over the
sluggish pride of inert and apathetic rank, the pro-
ceedings of the Committee had been, as Tone here
intimates, under the control of the Catholic aristocracy.
They were the sons of men who had lived in the period
of utter Catholic degradation ; and many of them re-
al 2

164 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

membered the time -when the privileges of a gentleman
were denied to a Catholic nobleman, and a Popish peer
was not allowed to wear a sword ! They had contrived
to retain their properties by expedients which \vcre
calculated to debase their political spirit ; and it is not
very wonderful that even when the period had arrived
when they might hold themselves erect, they did not
immediately divest themselves of that stoop, which the
long habit of bearing burthens had of necessity given.
Accordingly, they opposed the measures of a bold and
adventurous character, which the plebeian members of
the Committee had suggested ; and at last adopted the
preposterous expedient of seceding from the body.

Wolfe Tone, who was secretary to the Committee,
and whose evidence is of great value, gives the following
account of this incident: "The Catholics," he says,
' ' were rapidly advancing in political spirit and informa-
tion. Every month, every day, as the Revolution in
France went prosperously forward, added to their cou-
rage and their force, and the hour seemed at last
arrived when, after a dreary oppression of above one-
hundred years, they were once more to appear in the
political theatre of their country. They saw the bril-
liant prospect of success, which events in France opened
to their view, and they determined to avail themselves
with promptitude of that opportunity which never
returns to those who omit it. For this the active
members of the General Committee resolved to set on
foot an immediate application to Parliament, praying
or a repeal of the penal laws. The first difficulty they
had to surmount arose in their own body ; their peers,
their gentry, as they affected to call themselves, and
heir prelates, either reduced or intimidated by Govern-

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 165

ment, gave the measure all possible opposition; and,
at length, after a long contest, in which both parties
strained every nerve, and produced the whole of their
strength, the question was decided on a division in the
Committee, by a majority of at least six to one, in
favour of the intended application.

" The triumph of the young democracy was complete ;
but, though the aristocracy was defeated, they Avere
not yet entirely broken down. By the instigation of
Government, they had the meanness to secede from the
General Committee, to disown their acts, and even to
publish in the papers, that they did not wish to embar-
rass the Government, by advancing their claims of
emancipation. It is difficult to conceive such a degree
of political degradation. But what will not the tyranny
of an execrable system produce in time ? Sixty-eight
gentlemen, individually of high spirit, were found, who
publicly, and in a body, deserted their party, and their
own just claims, and even sanctioned this pitiful deser-
tion by the authority of their signatures. Such an
effect had the operation of the penal laws on the Catho-
lics of Ireland, as proud a race as any in all Europe \"

The secession of the aristocracy did not materially
enfeeble the people. New exertions were made by the
democracy. A plan of more general and faithful repre-
sentation was devised by Mr. M'Keon, which converted
the Committee into a complete Catholic parliament.
Members were elected for every county in Ireland, and
regularly came to Dublin to attend the meetings of this
extraordinary convention. At the head of this assembly
was the individual of whom Wolfe Tone makes such
honourable mention, John Keogh.

He was, in the years 1792 and 1793, the unrivalled

160 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

leader of the Catholic body. He belonged to the
middle class of life, and kept a silk mercer's shop in
Parliament Street, where he had accumulated consider-
able wealth. His education had corresponded with his
original rank, and he was without the graces and
refinements of literature; but he had a vigorous and
energetic mind, a great command of pure diction, a
striking and simple earnestness of manner, great powers
of elucidation, singular dexterity, and an ardent, in-
trepid, and untameable energy of character. His figure
was rather upon a small scale ; but he had great force
of countenance, an eye of peculiar brilliancy, and an
expression in which vehement feelings and the delibe-
rative faculties were combined. He was without a
competitor in the arts of debate; occasionally more
eloquent speeches were delivered in the Catholic con-
vention, but John Keogh was sure to carry the measure
which he had proposed, however encountered with
apparently superior powers of declamation.*

* As a proof of the political sagacity of this eminent Catholic leader,
it is worth mentioning that, after his retirement from public lift 1 , In-
frequently expressed a strong opinion that the Catholics would never
be emancipated until -a Catholic should be returned to Parliament : as
Mr. O'Connell was, many years afterwards, at the great Clare election.
The reason Mr. Keogh used to give for this opinion was, that such an
event would tend powerftilly to moderate the anti-Catholic feelings of
the English people, by bringing into play their equally characteristic
jealousy of the constitutional privileges of the subject. At all events, as a
political prediction, the fact is curious, and deserves to be recorded. The
Editor is indebted for it to Mr. P. Vincent Fitzpatrick, who, when
a young man, had frequently seen Mr. Keogh in his retirement, and
heard him inculcate what he considered the secret of Catholic success,
When the occasion arose, in 1828, Mr. Fitzpatrick pressed the authority
of Keogh earnestly upon Mr. O'Connell, who was slow to perceive the
importance of the step, although when induced to take it, he displayed
his customary vigour and enthusiasm.

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 167

Wolfe Tone has greatly praised him in several
passages of his work ; but there are occasional remarks
in the diary which was kept by that singular person,
when secretary to the Catholic Committee, in which
statements unfavourable to John Keogh are expressed.
This diary was never intended for publication, and is
written in a very easy and familiar style. He calls John
Keogh by the name of " Gog," and represents him as
exceedingly subtle, dexterous and cunning, and anxious
to such an extent to do everything himself, as to oppose
good measures when they were suggested by others.
He might have had this fault, but as Wolfe Tone wrote
down the ephemeral impressions which were made upon
him by occasional incidents in his journal, it is more
reasonable to look at the general result of the observa-
tions on this able man, which are to be found in his
autobiography, than to the remarks which were com-
mitted every day to his tablets. As secretary to the
Catholics, he was himself liable to be sometimes
thwarted by Mr. Keogh ; and it is likely that, under
the influence of some small annoyances, he has set
down in his journal some strictures upon his friend.

Afterwards, however, when Wolfe Tone was in France,
he reverts in the diary, subsequently kept by him, to
John Keogh, and, when far away, voluntarily writes a
high encomium upon the leader of the Irish Catholics.
It is to be collected from his work, that John Keogh
had a deep hostility to England, and that he was dis-
posed to favour the enterprise of Wolfe Tone. How-
ever, he did not in Ireland, escape the usual charges of
corruption. In the year 1793, he negotiated with the
Minister the terms upon which the partial emancipa-
tion, which was then granted to the Catholics, was to

168 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

be conceded. Whenever a leader of the people is
brought into contact with authority, he will incur
injurious surmises, should the result not correspond
with popular expectation. It was said, that had John
Keogh insisted upon complete emancipation, everything
would, in that moment of emergency, have been ob-
tained. It was insinuated, and for a long time believed,
that he received a large sum of money as a remunera-
tion for his complaisance ; but there is no sort of proof
that he sold his country, and his opulence should, by
generous men, who are slow to believe in the degrada-
tion of human nature, be rather referred to his honour-
able industry in his trade, than to any barter of the
liberties of Ireland It is difficult to determine whether,
if the Catholics had been peremptory in their requisi-
tion for equality, they could have forced the Minister
to yield. I am inclined to think that they would have
encountered obstacles in the mind of the late King,
which could not have been overcome ; and it must be
acknowledged, that for what was obtained (and that
was much), his country is principally indebted to Mr.
Keogh, and to the Committee of which he was the
head.*

In 1793 the elective franchise was obtained. The
seed was then cast, of which we have seen the fruits in
the elections of "Waterford, and Louth, and Clare.

* Mr. Charles Butler observes in his "Reminiscences, that when dele-
gates from Ireland were appointed to negotiate with Mr. Pitt, in 1793,
"Mr. Keogh was the soul of the delegation; he possessed a complete
knowledge of the subject; uncommon strength of understanding, firm-
ness, and a solemn imposing manner, with an appearance of great
humility." Mr. Butler then relates a remarkable interview which
Keogh and the other delegates had with Mr. Dundas (afterwards
Lord Melville) and other members of the Government. There u;is

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 169

Great joy prevailed through the Catholic body, who
felt that they had now gained, for the first time, a
footing in the state, and were armed with the power, if
not of bursting open, of at least knocking loudly at
the gates of the constitution. For some time the
question lay at rest. The rebellion then broke out
the Union succeeded and the Catholic cause was
forgotten. It was not even debated in the British
House of Commons until the year 1805, when the
measure was lost by an immense majority.

John Keogh being advanced in life, had retired, in a
great degree, from public proceedings, and confined
himself to his residence at Mount Jerome, in the vicinity
of Dublin. He had been previously defeated in a
public assembly by a young barrister, who had begun
to make a figure at the Bar, to which he was called in
the year 1798, and who, the moment he took a part in
politics, made a commanding impression. This barrister
was Daniel O'Connell, who, in overthrowing the previous
leader of the body upon a question connected with the

a long conference and then ensued a short silence, which was broken
by Mr. Keogh, who addressed Mr. Dundas and said, " There was one
thing which it was essential that he should know, and of which he
(Mr. Dundas) had not the slightest conception. It was extraordinary
that a person of Mr. Dundas's high station and his humble lot should be
in the same room, yet since it had so happened, he wished to avail him-
self of the opportunity of making the disclosure, but could not think of
doing so without Mr. Dundas's permission and promise not to be
offended." The promise was given, and then Keogh said, " You, Mr.
Dundas, know nothing of Ireland." Mr. Dundas was surprised, but
good humouredly said he believed Mr. Keogh was mistaken there ; for
though he had never been in Ireland, he had conversed with many
Irishmen j "I have drunk many a good bottle of wine," he added,
" with Lord Hillsborough, Lord Clare, and the Beresfords." " Yes, Sir,"
said Keogh, " I believe you have ; you drank many a good bottle of
wine with them before you went to war with America."

170 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

propriety of persevering to petition the legislature, gave
proof of the extraordinary abilities which have been
since so successfully developed. Mr. Keogh was
mortified, but his infirmities, without reference to any
pain which he might have suffered, were a sufficient
inducement to retire from the stage where he had
long performed the principal character with such
just applause.

Mr. O'Connell was, however, too deeply engaged in
his professional pursuits to dedicate as much of his
attention and of his time, as he has since bestowed, to
political concerns; and, indeed, the writer of this
article remembers the time, when his power of public
speaking, and of influencing popular assemblies, was by
no means so great as it has since become. The fortune
with which he came to the Bar (for his father and
uncle were then alive) was not considerable, and it
was of more importance to him to accumulate legal
knowledge and pecuniary resources than to obtain a
very shining political name. So much has been already
written with respect to this eminent individual, and the
public are so well acquainted with- the character of his
mind and talents, that it is not necessary to expatiate
upon them.

Another person appeared after the secession of
John Keogh, of very great abilities, with whose name
the English public have been less familiar. Mr. Dennis
Scully, the eldest son of a gentleman of large property
in the county of Tipperary, and who had been called to
the Bar, obtained by his admirable writings an influence
almost equal to that of Mr. O'Connell in the Catholic
Committee, which was revived in all its vigour, and
became the object of Mr. Saurin's prosecutions in 1811.
Mr. Scully had, upon his entrance into public life,

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 171

written some pamphlets in support of Government, and
it was believed that his marriage to a lady, who was
related to Lady Hardwicke, had given a determination
to his opinions. When Lord Hardwicke was in
Ireland, Mr. Scully was a good deal sought for at the
Castle. His first writings, however, were mere juvenile
effusions, and he afterwards felt that the only means of
obtaining justice for Ireland, was by awakening a deep
sense of their injuries among the great mass of the
people. Accordingly the character of his compositions
was materially changed ; and from his study in Merrion
Square there issued a succession of powerful and
inflammatory writings.* A newspaper, of which Mr.
JEneas Mac Donnel was named the editor, was estab-
lished by Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Scully; and both
those gentlemen, but especially the latter, contributed
their money and their talents to its support. The
wrongs of the country were presented in the most
striking view ; and while the Government looked with
alarm on these eloquent and virulent expositions of the
condition of the people, the people were excited to a
point of discontent, to which they had never before
been raised.

* It is to be remembered that (although Mr. Pitt was then Minister)
the Irish Government of Lord Hardwicke was neither illiberal nor anti-
catholic. Both Mr. Plnnket and Mr. Bushe held office nnder it. Mr.
Scully's support, therefore, of Lord Hardwicke was by no means (as
might be inferred from the remarks in the text) inconsistent with his
strenuous opposition to the Government of the Duke of Richmond and
Mr. Saurin. Mr. Scully was a decided enemy to French or revolutionary
principles, and the object of his early writings was chiefly to dissuade his
Roman Catholic countrymen from looking to France for aid in their
domestic struggles. Upon this ground an Irish Roman Catholic might
have supported the Government in 1803 without any compromiie of his
independence.

172 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Mr. Scully gained great influence over the public
mind by these services. His work upon the penal code,
which is an admirable digest of the laws, and of their
results, set a crown upon his reputation. No book so
able, so convincing, and uniting so much philosophy
with so much eloquence, had yet appeared. It brought
the whole extent of Catholic suffering at once under
view, and condensed and concentrated the evils of the
country. This work created an unprecedented impres-
sion, and gave to its author an ascendancy in the councils
of the Catholic Committee. He was greatly inferior to
Mr. O'Connell as a speaker, but was considered fully
as able in preliminary deliberation. The measures of
the body were generally believed to be of his suggestion,
and it was said that he had gained a paramount
influence over Mr. O'Connell himself. " The witchery
resolutions," as they are generally designated, for they
related to the influence of an enchantress of fifty over
the King, were supposed to be his composition, and it
was alleged that he omitted no efforts, in conjunction
with the late Lord Donoughmore, to cause them to be
carried. The resolutions passed at the " Black Abbey"
at Kilkenny, were also framed by Mr. Scully, who
narrowly escaped incarceration for his lucubrations.
Mr. John Magee, the proprietor of the Evening Post,
and Mr. Fitzpatrick, were imprisoned for his sins ; but
I have always understood that Mr. Scully made them a
compensation for their sufferings on his account.* He

* Mr. Magee, the proprietor of the Dublin Evening Post, was prose-
cuted and suffered imprisonment for the publication of what were called
the "Black Abbey Resolutions;" but whether these resolutions were
drawn by Mr. Scully, or not, it is obvious that he was not more respon-
sible for them than any other person who took a part in the proceedings
of the meeting. It is rather too much, therefore, to say that Mr. Magee

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 173

became an object of great detestation "with the Protes-
tant party, and of corresponding partiality with Ms
own. But in the height of his political influence the
death of his father, and a domestic lawsuit, which
ingrossed all his mind, induced him to retire in a great
measure from public life ; and afterwards the decay of
health prevented him from taking any part in the
proceedings of the body.

The Catholics have sustained a great loss in him.
His large property, his indefatigable industry, his
profound sense of the injustice which his country had
suffered, and the eloquent simplicity with which he
gave it expression, rendered him adequate to the part
which had devolved upon him. His manner and aspect
were in singular contrast and opposition to his political
tendencies. In utterance he was remarkably slow and
deliberate, and wanted energy and fire. His cadences
were singularly monotonous, every sentence ending
with a sort of see-saw of the voice, which was by no
means natural or agreeable. His gesture was plain
and unaffected, and it was easier to discover his emotions
by the trembling of his fingers than by his countenance.
For his hand would, under the influence of strong

was imprisoned for what are playfully called Mr. Scully's " sins." With
respect to Mr. Fitzpatrick the case is different. He was prosecuted, as
publisher, for reflections on the Government contained in Mr. Scully's
book on the Penal Laws, which Mr. Shcil has so highly and so justly
eulogized. The prosecution was one of the numerous vindictive proceed-
ings of the worst days of Irish misgovernment the autocracy of Mr.
Saurin, when the administration of justice was notoriously a mockery.
The author paid the heavy fine that was imposed upon the publisher,
and though Mr. Fitzpatrick (a man of learning and considerable political
importance) was also imprisoned, that portion of his sentence caused no
interruption of his friendship with Mr. Scully.

174 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

feeling or passion, shake and quiver like an aspen leaf,
while his countenance looked like marble. It was
impossible to detect his sensations in his features. A
deep smile played over his mouth, whether he was
indulging in mirthful, in pleasurable, or sarcastic
observation. He had some resemblance to Bonaparte,
in figure, when the latter grew round and corpulent,
but was more unwieldy. I have often thought, too,
that in his massive and meditative features, I could
trace an imperial likeness.

It was about sixteen or seventeen years ago that this
gentleman made so distinguished a figure in the
Catholic Committee. There were many others who,
at that time, took an active share in Catholic politics,
and who are since either dead, or have retreated from
publicity. The late Lord French was among the
most remarkable. He was a very tall, brawny, pallid,
and ghastly looking man, with a peculiarly revolutionary
aspect, and realized the ideal notions which one forms
of the men who are most likely to become formidable
and conspicuous in the midst of a political convulsion.
He had a long and oval visage, of Avhich the eyebrows
were thick and shaggy, and whose aquiline nose stood
out in peculiar prominence, while a fierce smile sat
upon cheeks as white as parchment, and his eyes glared
with the spirit that sat within them. His manners
were characterized by a sort of drawling urbanity,
which is observable among the ancient Catholic gentry
of Connaught; and he was studiously and sometimes
painfully polite. He was not a scholar, and must have
received an imperfect education. But his mind was
originally a powerful one, and his deep voice, which
rolled out in a peculiarly melancholy modification of

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 175

the Irish brogue, had a dismal and appalling sound.
He spoke with fluency a diction which belonged exclu-
sively to him. It was pregnant with vigorous but
strange expression, which was illustrated by gesture as
bold, but as wild. He was an ostentatious duellist,
and had frequent recourse to gladiatorial intimations.
Pride was his leading trait of character, and he fell a
victim to it. He had connected himself with a bank
in Dublin, and having become bankrupt, rather than
brook the examination of the commissioners at the
Exchange, he put himself, in a paroxysm of insanity, to
death. I thought him, with all his defects, a lover of
his country.

It would be difficult to imagine two persons more
strongly opposite in character and in manner than Lord
French, and the Premier Catholic nobleman the Earl
of Fiiigal. He has since left to his able and intelligent
son the office which he so long and usefully filled, as
head of the Catholic body; but, about the period of
which I am speaking, he was the chief, in point of
rank, of the Irish Catholics, and presided at their
meetings. Lord Fingal is one of the most amiable and
kind men, whom it has been my good fortune to have
been ever acquainted with. Without the least shadow
of arrogance, and although incapable of hurting the
feelings of any man, he still preserves his patrician
dignity unimpaired, and commands the respect, as well
as the partiality, of every one who approaches him.
Although not equal to his son in intellectual power, he
has excellent sense and admirable discretion. He has
made few or no mistakes in public life, and very often,
by his coolness and discretion, has prevented the
adoption of rash and injudicious measures. His

176 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

manners are disarming; and I have understood upon
good authority, that when in London, where he used
almost annually to go, as head of the Catholic body, he
has mitigated, by the charm of his converse, the
hostility of some of his most rancorous political
opponents. As a speaker, he is without much ability ;
but there is a gentleness and a grace about him which
supply the place of eloquence, and render his audience
so favourable to him, that he has often succeeded in
persuading, where others of greater faculty might have
employed the resources of oratory in vain.

An individual, who is now dead, abut this time made
a great sensation, not only in the Catholic Association,
but through the empire. This was the once famous
Doctor Drumgoole, whom Lord Kenyon seems deter-
mined not to allow to remain in peace. He was the
grand anti-vetoist, and was, I believe, a most sincere
and unaffected sentinel of religion. He kept watch
over the Catholic hierarchy, and took the whole body
of the clergy under his vigilant protection. It was,
however, a speech which he delivered at the Shakspeare
Gallery in Exchequer- street, at a Catholic meeting,
that tended chiefly to give him notoriety. He assailed
the tenets of the established religion with a good deal
of that sort of candour, which Protestants at that
period regarded as the height of presumption, but
which is now surpassed every day by the harangues of
the orators of the Catholic Association.

The Doctor's speech may be considered as a kind of
epoch in Catholic politics; for he was the first who
ventured to employ against the opponents of emancipa-
tion the weapons which are habitually used against the
professors of the Roman Catholic religion. Men who

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 177

swear that the creed of the great majority of Christians
is idolatrous and superstitious, should not be very
sensitive when their controversial virulence is turned
upon them. The moment Doctor Drumgoole's
philippic on the Reformation appeared, a great out-
cry took place, and Roman Catholics were not wanting
to modify and explain away the Doctor's scholastic
vituperation. He himself, however, was fixed and
stubborn as the rock on which he believed that his
doctrines were built. No kind of apology could be
extorted from him. He was, indeed, a man of a
peculiarly stubborn and inflexible cast of mind. It
must, however, be admitted, that for every position
which he advanced, he was able to adduce very strong
and cogent reasoning. He was a physician by pro-
fession, but in practice and in predilection he was a
theologian of the most uncompromising sort. He had
a small fortune, which rendered him independent of
patients, and he addicted himself, strenuously and
exclusively, to the study of the scholastic arts.

He was beyond doubt a very well-informed and a
clever man. He had a great command of speech, and yet
was not a pleasing speaker. He was slow, monotonous,
and invariable. His countenance was full of medical
and theological solemnity, and he was wont to carry a
huge stick with a golden head, on which he used to
press both his hands in speaking; and indeed, from the
manner in which he swayed his body, and knocked his
stick at the end of every period to the ground, which he
accompanied with a species of strange and guttural
" hem ! " he seemed to me a kind of rhetorical paviour,
who was busily engaged in making the great road of
liberty, and paving the way to emancipation. The

VOL. n. N

178 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Doctor was in private life a very good and gentle-
natured man. You could not stir the placidity of his
temper, unless you touched upon the Veto ; and upon
that point he was scarcely master of himself.

I remember well, years after all discussion upon the
subject had subsided, when I was in Paris, on a visit at
the house of a friend of the Doctor's and my own, he
suddenly walked in, just after his arrival from Rome.
I had not seen him for a considerable time, but I had
scarcely asked him how he was, when he reverted to
the Veto; and a debate (it was in the year 1819) was
immediately opened on the subject. Some Irish
gentlemen dropped casually in; they all took their
share in the argument. The eloquence of the different
disputants became inflamed : the windows towards the
street had been left unhappily open; a crowd of
Frenchmen collected outside, and the other inhabitants
of the house gathered at the doors to hear the dis-
cussion. It was only after the Doctor, who was still
under the influence of Vetophobia, had taken his leave,
that I perceived the absurdity of the incident. A
volume of Gil Bias was on the table where we happened
to have been assembled, and by accident I lighted on
the passage in which he describes the Irish disputants
at Salamanca " Je rencontrois quelquefois des figures
Hibernoises. II falloit nous voir disputer," &c. We
are a strange people, and deserve our designation at the
foreign universities, where it was proverbially said of
the Irish that they were " ratione furentes."

There were others besides the persons whom I have
described, who at this juncture took a part in Ca-
tholic politics, and who are deserving of mention;
but as they have recently made a figure even more

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 179

conspicuous than at the Catholic Committee, I reserve
them for subsequent delineation. The only other
person whom I remember as worthy of much note, and
who has retired from Catholic assemblies, was Peter
Bodkin Hussey. Peter was a very droll, sarcastic, and
amusing debater. He dealt almost exclusively in
irouy, and employed a good deal of grotesque imagery
in his orations, which, if it did not instruct, served at
least the purposes of entertainment. He had a very
rubicund and caustic countenance, that was surmounted
with a profusion of red hair ; and from his manner and
aspect he was not unhappily designated as " red pre-
cipitate." I don't know from what motive he has
retired from political life; but, though he is still young,
he has not recently appeared at any Roman Catholic
assembly.

These were the individuals who, besides the per-
formers who still continue on the boards, chiefly figured
at the Catholic Committee, which in the year 1811,
was made the object of a prosecution by Mr. Saurin.
Mr. Kirwan and Doctor Sheridan were indicted, under
the Irish Convention Act, for having been elected to
sit in the Catholic Parliament. The Government
strained every nerve to procure a conviction. Mr.
Saurin commenced his speech in the following words:
<e My Lords, and Gentlemen of the Jury, I cannot but
congratulate you and the public that the day of justice
has at length arrived " and the then Solicitor- General
the present Chief-Justice Bushe, in speaking of the
Committee, constituted as it was, concluded his oration
thus: "Compare such a constitution with the esta-
blished authorities of the land, all controlled, confined
to their respective spheres, balancing and gravitating

N 2

180 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

to each other all symmetry, all order, all harmony.
Behold, on the other hand, this prodigy in the political
hemisphere, with eccentric course and portentous
glare, bound by no attraction, disdaining any orbit,
disturbing the system, and affrighting the world."
Upon the first trial the Catholic Committee were
acquitted ; but upon the second the Attorney-General
mended his hand, and the jury having been packed,
the comet was put out.*

The Catholic Committee, as a representative body
elected by the people, and consisting of a certain
number of members delegated from each town and
county, ceased to exist. A great blow had been struck
at the cause, and a considerable time elapsed before
Ireland recovered from it. The Russian war ensued,
and Bonaparte fell. The hopes of the Catholics fell
with the peace. A long interval elapsed, in which
nothing very important or deserving of record took
place. A political lethargy spread itself over the great
body of the people, and the assemblies of the Catholics
became more unfrequent, and their language more
despondent and hopeless than it had ever before been.
The unfortunate differences which had taken place
between the aristocracy and the great body of the
people respecting the Veto, had left many traces of
discord behind, and divided them from each other;
they no longer exhibited any very formidable object
to their antagonists.

* Two of the delegates were tried, Doctor Sheridan, and Mr. Kirwan,
a merchant. The first was acquitted, the second found guilty. The
punishment was only nominal, the Government declaring itself satisfied
with the assertion and vindication of the law. See the sketch of Mr.
Bushe, then Solicitor General, in the first volume.

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 181

Thus matters stood till the year 1821, when the
King intimated his intention to visit Ireland. The
nation awoke at this intelligence ; and it was believed
by the Catholics, and surmised by the Protestants, that
their sovereign could scarcely mean to visit this portion
of his dominions from any idle curiosity, or from an
anxiety to play the principal part in a melodramatic
procession through the Irish metropolis. It was
reasonably concluded that he must have intended to
come as the herald of national tranquillity, and as the
great pacificator of his people. Before his arrival,
the two parties formed a temporary amnesty; and
Mr. O'Connell, who had gained the first eminence in
his profession, and had become the undisputed leader
of the Catholic body, used his best endeavours to effect
a reconciliation between the Orangemen of the Cor-
poration and the Irish Catholics. Sir Benjamin
Bloomfield arrived in Dublin before his master, and
intimated the Royal anxieties that all differences and
animosities should be laid aside. Accordingly, it was
agreed that a public dinner should be held at Morrison's
tavern, where the leaders of both factions should pledge
each other in libations of everlasting amity. This
national festivity took place ; and from the vehement
protestations on both sides, it was believed by many
that a lasting reconciliation had been effected.
Master Ellis and Mr. O'Connell almost embraced
each other.

The King arrived ; the Catholics determined not to
intrude their grievances upon him. Accordingly our
gracious Sovereign passed rather an agreeable time in
Dublin. He was hailed with tumultuous hurras
wherever he passed ; and in return for the enthusiastic

182 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

reception which he had found, he directed Lord Sid-
mouth to write a letter, recommending it to the people
to be united. His Majesty shortly afterwards set sail,
with tears in his eyes, from Kingstown. For a little
while the Catholics continued under the miserable
deception under which they had laboured during the
Royal sojourn, but when they found that no intention
existed to introduce a change of system into Ireland
that the King's visit seemed an artifice, and Lord Sid-
mouth's epistle meant nothing and that while men
were changed, measures continued substantially un-
altered, they began to perceive that some course more
effectual than a loyal solicitude not to disturb the
repose of Majesty should be adopted.

The present Catholic Association rose out of the
disappointment of the people. Its foundations were
laid by Mr. O'Connell, in conjunction with Mr. Shril.
They both happened to meet at the house of a common
friend in the mountains of Wicklow, and after exchang-
ing their opinions on the deplorable state to which
the Catholic mind had been reduced, and the utter
want of system and organization in the body, it u as
agreed by those gentlemen that they should both sign
an address to the Irish Catholics, and inclose it to the
principal members of the body. This proceeding was
considered presumptuous by many of the individuals
to whom their manifesto was directed; and under
other circumstances, perhaps, it might be regarded as
an instance of extreme self-reliance; but it was abso-
lutely necessary that some endeavour should be made
to rouse the national mind from the torpor into which
it had fallen. A very thin meeting, which did not
consist of more than about twenty individuals, was

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 183

held at a tavern set up by a man of the name of
Dempsey, in S ackville- street ; and it was there deter-
mined that something should be done.

The foundations of the Association were then laid,
and it must be owned that its first meetings afforded
few indications of the importance and the magnitude
to which it was destined to be raised. The attendance
was so thin, and the public appeared so insensible to
the proceedings which took place in those small con-
vocations, that it is almost surprising that the enter-
prise was not relinquished in despair. The Association
in its origin was treated with contempt, not only by
its open adversaries, but Catholics themselves spoke of
it with derision, and spurned at the walls of mud,
which their brethren had rapidly thrown up, and which
were afterwards to become "alta3 msenia Romse."
At length, however, the men who had formerly been
active in Catholic affairs were got together, and the
great body of the people were awakened from their
insensibility. The powerful appeals of Daniel O'Connell,
who now began to develop even greater abilities than he
had before exhibited, and whose ambition was excited
by the progress which he had made in his profession,
stirred the mind of Ireland. The aristocracy, who had
been previously alienated, had forgotten many affronts
which had been put upon] them, and began to reunite
themselves with the people.

Lord Killeen, the son of the Earl of Fingal, came
forward as the representative of his father and of the
Catholic nobility.* He was free from the habits of sub-
mission which the Catholic aristocracy had contracted

* The present Earl of FingaL

184 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

at the period of their extreme depression, and was
animated by an ardent consciousness of the rights
which were withheld from him. This young nobleman
threw himself into a zealous co-operation with Mr.
O'Connell, and by his abilities aided the impression
which his rank and station were calculated to produce.
His example was followed by other noblemen; and
Lord Gormanstown, a Catholic peer of great fortune
and of very ancient descent, although hitherto unused
to public life, appeared at the Catholic Association.
This good man had laboured for many years under the
impression that the Catholics were frustrating their ov. r n
objects by the violence with which they were pursued,
and had in consequence absented himself from their
assemblies ; but at length the delusion passed awny.
His example was followed by the Earl of Kenmare, who,
though he did not actually attend the Association (for
he abhors popular exhibition), sent in the authority of
his name, and his pecuniary contribution.

Thus the aristocracy was consolidated with the Catho-
lic democracy, and Mr. O'Connell began to wield them
both with the power of which new manifestations were
every day given. In a little time a general movement
was produced through the country ; the national atten-
tion was fixed upon the deliberations of the body which
had thus started up from the ruins of the old Catholic
Committee; its meetings became crowded to excess.
The newspapers teemed with vehement harangues ; and
the public mind, heated and excited by these impas-
sioned and constantly repeated appeals, began to exhibit
an entirely different character.

The junction of the aristocracy and of the democracy
was a most important achievement. But this con-

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 185

fedcracy was greatly strengthened by the alliance of
another and still more powerful body, the Catholic
priesthood of Ireland. The sympathy which the clergy
have manifested in the efforts of the Association, and
the political part which they have lately played, are to
be referred, in a great measure, to the influence of a
very greatly gifted man. Doctor Doyle, the Catholic
Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, is certainly among the
most remarkable men who have appeared in this strange
state of things, and has most essentially contributed to
the moral and political feeling which has grown up
amongst the people.

He was educated at an university in Portugal, where
it was not very likely that he would contract any very
ardent attachment to freedom, but his original love of
his country overcame the theology of Coimbra, and he
returned to Ireland with a mind deeply imbued with
learning, fraught with eloquence, and burning with
patriotism. He was for some time a professor in the
ecclesiastical college at Carlow, and before he was made
a bishop was unknown as a politician. But the crosier
had been scarcely placed in his hands, when he raised
it in the cause of his country. He wrote, and his
writings were so strikingly eloquent in diction and
powerful in reasoning, that they at once invited the
attention of the public. He fearlessly broached doc-
trines which not only startled the Government, but
gave alarm to some of the hoary professors at Maynooth.

In the following passage in his letter to Mr. Robert-
son, after speaking of the likelihood of a rebellion and
a French invasion, he says " The Minister of England
cannot look to the exertions of the Catholic priesthood :
they have been ill-treated, and they may yield for a

186 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

moment to the influence of nature, though it be opposed
to grace. This clergy, with a few exceptions, are from
the ranks of the people ; they inherit their feelings ;
they are not, as formerly, brought up under despotic
governments ; and they have imbibed the doctrines of
Locke and Paley, more deeply than those of Bellarmine,
or even of Bossuet, on the divine right of kings. They
know much more of the principles of the constitution,
than they do of passive obedience. If a rebellion were
raging from Carrickfergus to Cape Clear, no sentence
of excommunication would ever be fulminated by a
Catholic prelate."

This announcement of what is now obviously the
truth, created a sort of consternation. Lord Wellesley,
it is said, in order to neutralize the effects of this fierce
episcopal warning, appealed to Maynooth; and from
Maynooth there issued a document in which it is well
understood that the students, and even the President,
Dr. Crotty, did not agree, but to which the names of five
of the theological professors were attached. The per-
sons who were mainly instrumental in getting up a
declaration in favour of passive obedience (which is,
however, more mitigated than the famous proclamation
of servility which issued from the University of Oxford),
were two old French Doctors of the Sorbonne, who had
found bread in the Irish College, Monsieur de la Hogue
and Monsieur Fra^ois D'Anglade. These individuals
belonged, when in their own country, to the "aucien
regime ;" and, with a good deal of learning, imported
into Ireland a very strong relish for submission. The
following was their protest against Dr. Doyle :

" Royal Catholic College of St. Patrick, Maynooth.
In consequence of recent public allusions to the domes-

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 187

tic education of the Catholic Clergy, we, the under-
signed Professors of the Roman Catholic College of
Maynooth, deem it a duty which we owe to Religion,
and to the country, solemnly and publicly to state, that
in our respective situations, we have uniformly incul-
cated allegiance to our gracious Sovereign, respect for
the constituted authorities, and obedience to the
Laws.

"In discharging this solemn duty, we have been
guided by the unchangeable principles of the Catholic
Religion, plainly and forcibly contained in the following
precepts of St. Peter and St. Paul :

" 'Be ye subjects therefore to every human creature
for God's sake ; whether it be to the King, as excelling,
or to governors sent by him, for the punishment of evil
doers, and for the praise of the good; for so is the will
of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men, as free and not as making
liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God.
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.
Honour the King. For this is thanks-worthy, if for
conscience towards God a man endures sorrows, suffer-
ing wrongfully. For what glory is it, if committing
sin, and suffering for it you endure? But if doing
well you suffer patiently, this is thanks-worthy before
God." 1st Ep. of St. Peter, c. 2.

" * Let every soul be subject to the higher powers : for
there is no power but from God ; and those that are,
are ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth the
power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that
resist, purchase to themselves damnation. For Princes
are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then, not be afraid of the Power ? Do that

188 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

which is good, and thou shalt have praise for the same.
Wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath,
but also for conscience sake." Ep. to the Romans,
c. 13.

" Our commentaries on these texts cannot be better
conveyed than in the language of Tertullian. ' Chris-
tians are aware who has conferred their power on the
Emperors : they know it is God, after whom they are
first in rank, and second to no other. From the same
source, which imparts life, they also derive their power.
We Christians invoke on all the Emperors the blessings
of long life, a prosperous reign, domestic security, a
brave army, a devoted senate, and a moral people/
Apology, chap. 30.

" Into the sincerity of these professions we challenge
the most rigid inquiry ; and we appeal with confidence to
the peaceable and loyal conduct of the Clergy educated
in this Establishment, and to their exertions to preserve
the public order, as evidence of the soundness of the
principles inculcated in this College. These principles
are the same which have been ever taught by the
Catholic Church : and if any change has been wrought
in the minds of the Clergy of Ireland, it is, that
religious obligation is here strengthened by motives
of gratitude, and confirmed by sworn allegiance, from
which no power on earth can absolve."

Such was the Sorbonne manifesto, which, notwith-
standing the awful names of La Hogue and D'Anglade,
was laughed at by the Irish priesthood. The reputation
of Dr. Doyle was more widely extended by this effort
of antiquated divinity to suppress him ; and the Govern-
ment found additional proofs in the result of his publi-
cation of the unfortunate truths which it contained.

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 189

I. K. L., the name by which Dr. Doyle is generally
known, and which is composed of the initials of his
titular designation, threw into the Catholic Association
all the influence of his sacred authority ; and, having
openly joined that body, increased the reverence with
which the people had previously considered its proceed-
ings, and imparted to it something of a religious cha-
racter. The example which was given by Dr. Doyle
was followed by other dignitaries of the church, of
whom the most remarkable are Dr. Murray, the Arch-
bishop of Dublin; and Doctor Kelly, the Bishop of
Waterford.

Dr. Murray is the successor of the late Dr. Troy.
That excellent ecclesiastic had for many years presided
over the see of Dublin, rather with the prudence and
caution which had been acquired in times of political
oppression, than with the energy and determination
which became the augmenting power of the Catholic
body. He had acquired his habits at an epoch, if not
of servility, of oppression, and had been accustomed to
accomplish, by dexterous acquiescence, what would now
be insisted upon as a right. During the Irish rebellion
he is said to have shown great skill ; and, by his influ-
ence at the Castle, prevented the Roman Catholic
chapels from being closed up. He was accounted a
good divine, but had neither the faculty of composition
nor of speech. He had received his education at Rome,
and was a member of the order of St. Dominic. He
had the look, too, of a holy bon vivant, for he was squat
and corpulent, had a considerable abdominal plenitude,
and a ruddy countenance, with a strong determination
of blood to the nose. Yet his aspect belied him, for he
was conspicuous for the simplicity and abstemiousness

190 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

of his life ; and although Lord Norbury, observing Mr.
jEneas M'Donnel descending the steps of his house,
exclaimed, " There is pious ./Eneas coming from the
sack of Troy/' and by the celebrity of the pun extended
to the Doctor a renown for hospitality, the latter had
scarcely the means of supporting himself in a manner
consistent with his clerical station. He died in exceed-
ing poverty, for one guinea only was found in his pos-
session. This arose partly from the narrowness of his
income, and partly from his generous disposition. He
had about eight hundred pounds a-year, and expended
it on the poor.

This good man was succeeded by the present Arch-
bishop of Dublin, Dr. Murray. He was educated in
the university of Salamanca, but his mind is untarnished
by the smoke of the scholastic lamp, and he has a spirit
of liberty within him which shows how compatible the
ardent citizen is with the enthusiastic priest. His
manners are not at all Spanish, although he passed
many years in Spain under the tuition of Dr. Curtis,
the Catholic Primate, who was professor of Theology in
Salamanca, and is one of its peculiar "Bachelors."
Dr. Curtis is almost more Spanish than the Spanish
themselves, for he has a restlessness of gesture, and a
flexibility of the physiognomical muscles, which surpass
the vivacity of Andalusia, and with one finger laid upon
his nose, with his eyes starting from his head, and with
the other hand quivering like that of a Chinese juggler,
he presents the most singular spectacle of episcopal
vivacity at the age of ninety-one, which I have ever
seen. His pupil and brother Archbishop of Dublin is
meek, composed, and placid, and has an expression of
patience, of sweetness, and benignity, united with

CATHOLIC LEADERS AND ASSOCIATIONS. 191

strong intellectual intimations, which would fix the
attention of any ordinary observer who chanced to see
him in the public way. He has great dignity and
simplicity of deportment, and has a bearing befitting
his rank without the least touch of arrogance. His
voice is singularly soft and harmonious; and even in
reproof itself, he does not put his Christian, gentleness
aside. His preaching is of the first order. It is diffi-
cult to hear his sermons upon charity without tears,
and there is, independently of the charms of diction
and the graces of elocution, of which he is a master, an
internal evidence of his own profound conviction of what
he utters, that makes its way to the heart. When he
stands in the pulpit, it is no exaggeration to say, that
he diffuses a kind of piety about him; he seems to
belong to the holy edifice, and it may be said of him
with perfect truth

" At chnrch, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorn'd the venerable place."

It is obvious that such a man, attended by all the influ-
ence which his office, his abilities, and his apostolic
life confer upon him, must have added great weight to
the proceedings of the Association, when, with a zeal in
patriotism corresponding with his ardour in religion, he
caused himself to be enrolled amongst its members.

"The contemplation of the wrongs of my country
(he exclaimed, at a public meeting held in the magnifi-
cent Catholic Cathedral in Marlborough-street) the
contemplation of the wrongs of my country makes my
soul burn within me !"

As he spoke thus, he pressed to his heart the hand
which the people were accustomed to see exalted from

192 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the altar in raising the Host to Heaven. His fine
countenance was inflamed with emotion ; and his whole
frame trembled under the dominion of the vehement
feeling by which he was excited. These are the men
whom our Government, in its wisdom, have placed in
alienation from the state, and whose character has been
sketched in the passage which I have quoted from the
works of Dr. Doyle.

193

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING.

[NOVEMBEB, 1828.]

ANXIOUS to witness the great assembly of " the Men
of Kent," of which the High Sheriff had called a
meeting, (having appointed twelve o'clock upon Friday
the 24th of October, for the immense gathering), I
proceeded from Rochester to Maidstone at an early
hour. Upon my way, I saw the evidences of prodigious
exertion to call the yeomanry together, and from the
summit of a hill that surmounts a beautiful valley near
Maidstone, I beheld a long array of waggons moving
slowly towards the spot which had been fixed by the
High Sheriff for the meeting. The morning was pecu-
liarly fine and bright, and had a remnant of " summer's
lingering bloom ;" and the eye, through the pure air,
and from the elevated spot on which I paused to survey
the landscape, traversed an immense and glorious pros-
pect. The fertile county of Kent, covered with all the
profusion of English luxury, and exhibiting a noble
spectacle of agricultural opulence, was before me ; under
any circumstances the scene would have attracted my

VOL. II. O

194 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

attention, but upon the occasion on which I now beheld
it, it was accompanied by circumstances which greatly
added to its influence, and lent to the beauty of nature
a sort of moral picturesque.

The whole population of an immense district, seemed
to have swarmed from their towns and cottages, and
filled the roads and avenues which led to the great
place of political rendezvous. In the distance lay
Penenden Heath, and I could perceive that long before
the hour appointed by the Sheriff for the meeting, large
masses had assembled upon the field, where the struggle
between the two contending parties was to be carried
on. After looking upon this extraordinary spectacle,
I proceeded on my journey. I passed many of the
Men of Kent, who were going on foot to the meeting;
but the great majority were conveyed in those ponder*-
ous teams which are used for the purposes of conveying
agricultural produce ; and, indeed, " the Men of Kent,"
who were packed up in those vehicles, seemed almost
as unconscious as the ordinary burthens with which
their heavy vehicles are laden. The waggons went on
in their dull and monotonous rotation, filled with
human beings, whose faces presented a vacant blank, in
which it was impossible to trace the smallest interest or
emotion. They did not exchange a word with each
other, but sat in their waggons, with a half sturdy and
half fatuitous look of apathy, listening to the sound of
the bells which were attached to the horses by which
they were drawn, and as careless as those animals of
the events in which they were going to take a part.

It was easy, however, to perceive, to which faction
they belonged ; for poles were placed in each of these
waggons, with placards attached to them, on -\vhich

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 195

directions were given to the loads of freeholders to vote
for their respective proprietors. I expected to have
seen injunctions to vote for Emancipation, or for the
Constitution, or against Popery and Slavery; these
ordinances would, in all likelihood, have been above the
comprehension of "the Men of Kent;" and accordingly
the more intelligible words, " Vote for Lord Winchil-
sea," or " Vote for Lord Darnley," were inscribed upon
ihe placards. I proceeded to my place of destination,
and reached Penenden Heath.

It is a gently sloping amphitheatrical declivity, sur-
rounded with gradually ascending elevations of highly
cultivated ground, and presenting in the centre a wide
space, exceedingly well calculated for the holding of a
great popular assembly. On arriving, I found a great
multitude assembled at about an hour before the meet-
ing. A large circle was formed, with a number of
waggons placed in close junction to each other, and
forming an area capable of containing several thousand
persons. There was an opening in the spot imme*
diately opposite the Sheriff for the reception of the
people, who were pouring into the enclosure and had
already formed a dense mass. The waggons were laden
with the better class of yeomen, with the gentry at
their head. A sort of hustings was raised for the
Sheriff and his friends, with chairs in the front, and
from this point the waggons branched off in two wings>
that on the left of the Sheriff being allotted to the
Protestant, and the right having been appropriated to
the Catholic party. The waggons bore the names of
the several persons to whom they belonged, and were
designated as " Lord Winchilsea's," or " Lord Darn-
Jey's," or, as "The Committee's," and ensigns were

O 2

196 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

displayed from them which indicated the opinions of
their respective occupiers.

The moment I ascended one of the waggons, where
all persons were indiscriminately admitted, I saw that
the Protestants, as they called themselves, had had the
advantage in preparation, and that they were well
arrayed and disciplined. Of this the effects produced
by Lord Winchilsea's arrival afforded strong proof; for
the moment he entered, there was a simultaneous
waving of hats by his party, and the cheering was so
well ordered and regulated that it was manifest that
every movement of the faction was preconcerted and
arranged. The appearance of Lord Darnley, of Lord
Radnor, and the other leaders of the Catholic party,
was not hailed with the same concurrence of applause
from their supporters; not that the latter were not
warmly zealous, but that they had not been disciplined
with the same care.

I anxiously watched for the coming of Cobbett and
of Hunt. I not only desired to see two persons of
whom I had heard so much, but to ascertain the extent
of their influence upon the public mind. Cobbett, I
understood, had, before the meeting took place, suc-
ceeded in throwing discord into the ranks of the liberal
party. He had intimated that he would move a peti-
tion against tithes to this Lord Darnley vehemently
objected, and asked very reasonably how he could, as
a peer of the realm, co-operate in such a proposal.
Several others, however, although they greatly disap-
proved of Cobbett's proposition in the abstract, were
disposed to support any expedient which would have
the effect of extinguishing the Brunswick faction. It
had therefore been decided first, to try whether the

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 197

Brunswick measure could not be got rid of, without
having recourse to any substitute, and in the event of
failing in that course, to sustain Cobbett' s amendment.
Cobbett had dined the preceding day at Maidstone,
with about a hundred farmers, and had been very well
received. He there gave intimations of his intended
proposition against the Church. His friends said that
he had devoted great care to his petition, and that he
plumed himself upon it. I thought it exceedingly pro-
bable that he would succeed in carrying his measure,
especially as he had obtained a signal triumph at a
meeting connected with the Corn Laws, and borne
down the gentry before him.

These anticipations had greatly raised my curiosity
about this singular person, and I watched the effect
which his coming should produce with some solicitude.
He at length arrived : upon his entering the enclosure,
I heard a cry of" Cobbett, Cobbett !" and turning my
eyes to the spot from which the exclamation came, I
perceived less sensation than I had expected to find.
Some twenty of the lowest class of freeholders made
some demonstration of pleasure at his appearance, and
followed him as he made his way towards a waggon on
the right of the Sheriff. He was dressed in a gray
frieze coat, with a red handkerchief, which gave him a
very extraordinary aspect, and presented him in con-
trast with the body of those who occupied the waggons,
who, on account of the public mourning, were dressed
in black.* He seemed in excellent health and spirits,
for his cheeks were almost as ruddy as his neckcloth,
and set off his white hair, while his eyes sparkled at
* The Duke of York had died shortly before.

198 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the anticipation of the victory \vhich he was confident
that he should obtain.

He seemed to me to mistake the following and accla-
mation of a few of the rabble for the applauses of the
whole meeting. When, however, he ascended the
waggon, and stood before the assembly, he ought to
have discovered that he did not stand very high in the
general favour ; for while the circle about him cheered
Mm with rather faint plaudits, the moment his tall but
somewhat fantastical figure was exhibited to the meet-
ing, he was assailed by the Brunswickers with the
grossest insults, which, instead of exciting the anger,
produced a burst of merriment among the Catholic
party. "Down with the old Bone-grubber I"* " Oh,
Cobbett, have you brought Burdett along with you?"
"Where's your gridiron?" "Will you pay Burdett
put of the next crop of Indian corn?" These, and
other contumelies, were lavished upon him by a set of
fellows who were obviously posted in the meeting, in
order to assail their antagonists and beat them down.
Cobbett was so flushed with the certainty of success,
and so self-deluded by his egregious notions of his own
importance, that his temper was not at first disturbed,
but looking down triumphantly to those immediately
about him, and drawing forth a long petition, told them
that he had brought them something that should con-
tent them all.

* Cobbett wus called the " bone-grubber," in consequence of the
respect which, with ostentatious bad taste, he paid to the memory of
Thomas Paine, whose remains he brought to England from America.
Lord Norbury, on being asked what Cobbett meant by importing the
bones, is said to have answered, that he supposed he " wanted to make a
broil."

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 199

I surveyed him attentively at this moment. . Cobbett
is generally represented as a man of rather a clownish-
looking demeanour ; and I have read, in some descrip-
tions of him, that he could not, at first view, suggest
any notion of his peculiar intellectual powers. I do
not at all agree in the opinion. He has certainly a
rude and rough bearing, and affects a heedlessness of
form, amounting to coarseness and rusticity. But it is
only requisite to look at him, in order to see in the
expression of his countenance the vigorous mind with
which he is endowed. The higher portion of his face is
not unlike Sir Walter Scott's, to whom he bears,
especially about the brow, a resemblance. His eyes
are more vivid than the great author's, while the lower
part of his countenance is expressive of fierce and vehe-
ment emotions. His attire and aspect certainly sug-
gest, at first view, his early occupations, and the predi-
lections of his later life (for he is more attached to
agriculture than to politics) ; but whoever looks at him
narrowly, will see the impress of intellectual superiority
upon his countenance, and perceive, under his rude
bearing, the predominance of mind.

AVhen he first addressed the people, he was in exceed-
ingly good humour ; and as he snapped his fingers, and
cried out, "Emancipation is all roguery \" the laugh
which the recollection of his own devotedness to the
Catholic cause created, was echoed by his own merri-
ment, and he seemed to enjoy his political inconsistency
as an exceeding good joke. He told the people, that he
was well aware that the Sheriff intended to adjourn the
meeting, but that he would stay there, and hold a meet-
ing himself.
. Next to Cobbett stood the great leader of the radicals,

200 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Mr. Hunt. A reconciliation has been recently effected
between them, and they stood together in the front of
the same waggon before the people. I was surprised to
find in Mr. Hunt, a man of an exceedingly mild and
gentle aspect, with a smooth and almost youthful cheek,
a bright and pleasant eye, a sweet and urbane smile,
and altogether a most gentlemanlike and disarming
demeanour. His voice, too, is exceedingly melodious,
and as soft as his manners. This Gracchus, of Man-
chester is utterly unlike the picture which the imagina-
tion is apt to form of a tribune of the people ; and
indeed I do not consider him to possess the external
qualifications of a great demagogue, though he is cer-
tainly endowed with that plain and simple eloquence
which is so peculiarly effective with an English multi-
tude. Near Hunt and Cobbett, the Pylades and Orestes
of radicalism, stood Counsellor French, an Irish Catholic
barrister, who is now a proselyte among the reformers,
but seems to have many of the qualities necessary ta
constitute an apostle in the cause, and is likely one day
to set up for himself.

In the waggon next that in which Cobbett, Barrel,
and Hunt were placed, sat Mr. Sheil, the Irish dema-
gogue. This gentleman was said, by some people, to
have been sent over by the Association; while others
asserted, that he had of his own accord embarked in the
perilous enterprise of addressing "the Men of Kent."
There was a feeling of curiosity, mingled with dis-
relish, produced by bis appearance there. The English
Catholics had endeavoured to dissuade him from the
undertaking ; and Mr. Barrel, a gentleman of property
in the county, was particularly anxious that he should
not attempt to speak. Lord Barnley was also very

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETIXG. 201

adverse to this adventurous step, and so far from having
given Mr. Sheil a freehold, had intimated, I heard, that
the death-bed of the Duke of York was not yet so much
forgotten, that Mr. Sheil should venture into such an
assembly.*

That gentleman sat in one of the waggons, appa-
rently careless of the impression which he should pro-
duce ; but his pale and bilious face, in which discontent
and solicitude, mingled with a spirit of Sardonic viru-
lence, are expressed, and his restless and unquiet eye,
gave indications that he was annoyed at the opprobrious
epithets which were showered upon him, and that he
was anxious about the event, as it should personally
affect himself. There is certainly in Mr. Sheil's face
and person little to bespeak the favour of a public
assembly; and if he produces oratorical effects, he
must be indebted to a power of phrase, and an art in
delivery, of which, in the uproar in which he spoke, it
was impossible in that meeting to form any estimate.
Next to Mr. Sheil was the waggon appropriated to the
Committee, where there were some English Catholics ;
and Lord Darnley's and Lord Radnor's waggons suc-
ceeded.

The opposite wing was, as I have mentioned, occu-
pied by the Brunswickers, of whom by far the most
conspicuous was Lord Winchilsea. He is a tall, strong-

* ilr. Sheil had made a speech shortly before, at a public meeting at
Slullingar, in which he had alluded to the illness of the royal Duke in a
strain which was ill excused even by the license of an agitator and the
notorious hostility of the Duke of York to the Catholic claims. The
peech naturally gave great offence, and Mr. Sheil apologized for it
subsequently in Dublin, when it became known that the Duke's illness
was mortal.

202 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

built, vigorous-looking man, destitute of all dignity or
grace, but with a bluff, rude, and direct nautical bear-
ing, which reminds one of the quarter-deck, and would
lead you to suppose that he was the mate of a ship (a
conjecture which a black silk handkerchief tied tightly
about his neck, tends to assist) rather than an here-
ditary Counsellor of the Crown. Whatever feelings of
partiality his late conduct may have generated towards
him with his own faction, he is certainly not popular in
the county; for he is the terror of poachers, and is
most arbitrary in the enforcement of the game laws.
It is but justice to him to say, that he has, upon one or
two occasions, when he has detected poachers upon his
estate, given them the alternative of going to prison or
fighting with him ; for to his political he superadds no
inconsiderable pugilistic qualifications. He seems very
well qualified to lead an English mob, and possesses in a
far greater perfection than Hunt or Cobbett, the dema-
gogic qualities of voice, which gave him, at Penenden
Heath, a great advantage over his opponents. Before
the chair was taken, he was actively engaged in mar-
shalling his troops, and cheering them on to battle, and
it was manifest that he felt all the excitement of a
leader engaged in a cause, upon the issue of which his
own political importance was depending.

I did not remark any persons of rank about him, and
indeed the Protestant was conspicuously inferior in this
particular to the Catholic wing. There were, however,
on the left side, a number of persons, in whom it was
easy to recognize the sacerdotal physiognomy, of far
more influence than noblemen could have been; the
whole body of the Kent Clergy were marshalled for
the occasion; and not only the priests of the esta-

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 203

Wished religion, but many of the dissenting preachers
of the Methodist school, were arrayed under the Win-
chilsea banners. It was easy to recognize them even
amidst the crowd of men habited in black, by their
lugubrious and dismal expression. The clergy at the
meeting were so numerous, that the Protestant side
had much more a clerical than an agricultural aspect.

The different parties being thus distributed, and
every waggon having been occupied, and the whole of
the area within the inclosure having been filled by the
dense crowd, the Sheriff, Sir T. Maryon Wilson, ap-
peared exactly at twelve o'clock, and took the chair.
He seemed to me, from the distance at which I saw
him, a young man, quite untutored in the business of
public meetings ; but he had beside him his sub-sheriff,
Mr. Scudamore, who appeared to have all the zeal by
which his employer was actuated in the cause of Pro-
testantism, and to be perfectly well versed in the stra-
tagems by which an advantage may be given to one
party, without affording to the other the opportunity of
complaining of any very gross breach, of decorum.
This gentleman had a coarse, red whiskered, and blunt
face, of the Dogberry character, in which a vulgar
authoritativeness was combined with those habits of
submission to his superior, which are generally found
in subordinate functionaries.

The High Sheriff having taken his station, delivered
a brief speech, in which he stated the object of the
meeting to be the adoption of such measures as should
be deemed most advisable for the support of the church
establishment ; and he concluded by enjoining the
assembly to hear all parties, a precept which he cer-

204 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

tainly exhibited no very great solicitude to embody in
his own conduct. A letter from the brother of Mr.
Honeywood was then read, in which an excuse was
made for that gentleman upon the ground of indisposi-
tion, (it was well known that he was adverse to the
objects of the meeting,) and then Mr. Gipps rose to
move the petition. I found it difficult to ascertain
exactly who he was ; but thus far I learned, that he is
not a man of influence or weight from property in the
county, and indeed I could see no motive for putting
him in the foreground, excepting that he has a clear
and distinct voice, which, in a less clamorous assembly
would have been probably heard by a considerable part
of the meeting.

He dwelt upon a variety of the common topics which
are pressed into the service of Anti-catholicism, but
gave no novelty by any unusual display of diction to
the old arguments against Popery. He seemed himself
to chuckle at what he conceived to be a peculiarly
jocular and picturesque representation of Mr. O'Connell,
at the Clare election, bowing down to receive the bene-
diction of a bishop, forgetting that it was hardly stranger
on the part of Mr. O'Connell to go through, what is
after all, I believe, a common form with pious Roman
Catholics, than for a duchess to print her beautiful lips
on the black and bearded mouth of a coal-heaver, in
order to obtain a vote for Mr. Fox. I am surprised
that this parallel was not adduced in Mr. O'Connell's
defence. After Mr. Gipps had expended himself in a
monotonous and wearisome diatribe against the Catholic
religion, he proceeded to read a petition, which the
liberal party had anticipated would have prayed dis-

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 205

tinctly against all concessions to the Roman Catholics.
To their surprise it was couched in the following
words :

"Your Petitioners beg leave to express to your
Honourable House, their sense of the blessings they
enjoy under the Protestant Constitution of these King-
doms, as settled at the Revolution, viewing with the
deepest regret the proceedings which have for a long
time been carrying on in Ireland.

" Your Petitioners feel themselves imperatively called
upon to declare their strong and inviolable attachment
to those Protestant principles, which have proved to be
the best security for the civil and religious liberty of
these Kingdoms.

" They therefore approach your Honourable House,
humbly but earnestly praying that the Protestant Con-
stitution of the United Kingdom may be preserved
entire and inviolable."

The phraseology of this petition, from its moderate
character, excited some surprise ; and it was justly said,
that no Protestant could object to the matter for which
it ostensibly purported to pray. The compatibility of
concession to the Catholics with the entirety and invio-
lability of the Protestant Church, has been always
maintained, not only by the Protestant, but Catholic
advocates of their claims. This subdued tone of the
Petition gave distinct proof that the Clubbists calcu-
lated upon a strong opposition to any more forcible
interference Avith the legislature. The object, however,
of the Clubbists was obvious, and the Petition was
resisted, not so much upon the ground of its containing
any thing in itself very objectionable, as that the intent
of the Petitioners themselves was avowed.

206 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

A Mr. Plumtree seconded Mr. Gipps. It was said
that he was a Calvinist, and he certainly had the aspect
which we might suppose to have been worn by the
founder of his religion, when he ordered Servetus to he
consumed by a slow fire. He said nothing at all worth
note.

When Mr. Plumtree sat down, Lord Camden ad-
dressed the Sheriff. He occupied a peculiar station.
Instead, as was observed in one of the Morning Papers,
of taking his place upon the right side, and bringing
up his tenants in a body, he came unattended, and
selected a place upon the hustings near the Sheriff.
He deprecated all kind of partizanship in the course
which he took in the proceedings; and certainly his
deportment and look indicated that it was with no other
feeling than one of duty, and without any kind of
struggle for superiority, that he had mingled in the
contest. I do not know whether it was his office as
Lord Lieutenant of the county that procured him a
patient hearing from both sides, or whether before their
passions were strongly excited, they forbore from offer-
ing an indignity to a person who from his age and rank
derived a title to universal respect. He was the only
person who was heard with scarcely any interruption.
His speech was exceedingly well delivered, in a sur-
prisingly clear, sonorous, and audible intonation. He
condemned the conduct of the Catholics in the lan-
guage of vehement vituperation, but at the same time
pointed out the extreme violence with which their
demands were resisted.

The only circumstance in his speech worth recording
is, that he mentioned his belief that some measure of
concession was intended by Government. This attracted

THE PENENDEN HEATH MEETING. 207

great attention, and it is difficult to conceive how a
person, so prudent and so calm as Lord Camden mani-
festly is, would have intimated any belief of his upon
the subject, unless there were some foundation on which
something more substantial than a mere conjecture
could be raised. Towards the end of his speech the
Clubbists became exceedingly impatient, and one of
them called him " an old Radical ;" a term of which
he protested that he was at a loss to discover the appli-
cability, as he had never done anything to please the
Radicals. This, Mr. Hunt afterwards controverted,
and insisted that he had done much to gratify the
Radicals by giving up his sinecure a panegyric which
was well merited, and was most happily pronounced.*

Lord Darnley followed Lord Camden, but was received
with loud and vehement hooting. This nobleman is
considered to be very proud, without being arrogant,
and to have as full consciousness of the dignity and
rights of his order, as Lord Grey could charge any Whig
disciple to entertain. He must have been deeply galled
when he perceived that his rank and wealth were only
turned into scoff, and when in the outset of his speech,
a common boor cried out, "That there fellow is a
Hirishman. Tim, put a potato down his throat, and

choke his d d Hirish jaw." He was not deterred

from going on by the howlings which surrounded him,
and with far more intrepidity than I should have been
disposed to give him credit for, he proceeded with his
speech.

* This venerable nobleman died in 1840, at the age of eighty-one. He
had for many years paid into the receipt of the Exchequer the large
income of his sinecure office, the Tellership of the Exchequer a just and
a rare claim to the respect and gratitude of the nation.

208 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

He soon, however, received a blow, which wounded
him much more than the potato proposition ; for the
moment he began to talk of his estate in Ireland (where
he has a very large property) several people cried out,

"Why don't you live on your estate, and be d d to

you, and every other d d absentee !" This was a

thrust which it was impossible to parry. Lord Darnley
endeavoured to proceed ; but the uproar became so
terrible, that not a word which he uttered could be
heard in the tumult. Whatever faults the Clubbists
may have committed, any excessive deference to rank
and wealth was not on this occasion, at least, among
their defects; and, indeed, with the exception of
Cobbett and Shell, no man was listened to with more
angry impatience than the noble Earl. After speaking
for about twenty minutes, he sat down with evident
marks of disappointment and personal mortification.

On his resuming Ins place, with a determination, I
should presume, never to expose himself to such an
affront again, Lord Winchilsea and Mr. Sheil rose
together. The competition for precedence into which
the Irish demagogue was so audacious as to enter with
the chief and captain of the Brunswickers, excited the
fury of the latter.* Mr. Sheil insisted, that as Lord
Camden had, as was I believe the case, alluded to him,
he had a right to vindicate himself, and there were
many Avho surmised that his motive for presenting him-
self at this early stage of the proceedings was, that he

* The Brunswick Clubs sprang up towards tbo close of the struggle
for Emancipation. They were the last efforts of the expiring Orange
ascendancy. Lord Plunket, in the House of Lords, called them " Titus
Gates' Clubs." They deserved contempt for the stupid violence of their
proceedings.

THE PENEMDEX HEATH MEETING. 209

had sent his speech to London to be printed ; and he
was heard to say, that he did not care whether the
Brunswickers listened to him, provided his arguments
were read. Whatever was his object, it was certainly
not a little presumptuous in a stranger thus to enter
the lists with an Earl, and to demand a prior audience.
" I am an Irishman," said Mr. Sheil. " I'll be sworn

you are," cried Cobbett; "you are such a d d

impudent fellow." The party on the right endeavoured
to support Mr. Sheil, and for a long time both Lord
TVinchilsea and that gentleman continued to speak
together, amidst a confusion in which neither could be
heard.

At length the Sheriff interposed, and declared that
Lord Winchilsea had first obtained his eye. That
nobleman proceeded to deliver himself of a quantity of
common-place against the Catholic religion, amidst the
vehement plaudits of his own faction, intermingled
with strong marks of disapprobation from the right.
'/Mushroom Lord upstart go mind your rabbits,"
and " the Papists are not poachers," were the cries of
the liberal party : while the Brunswickers exclaimed,
" Bravo Winchilsea !" and waved their hats, as with
the lungs of Stentor, with the gesture of a pugilist, and
the frenzy of a fanatic, he proceeded. Although utterly
destitute of idea, and though scarcely one distinct notion
perhaps could be detected in his speech, yet Lord Win-
chilsea, by the energy of his action, and the impetuosity
of his manners, and the strong evidences of rude sin-
cerity about him, made an impression upon his auditors
far greater than the cold didactic manner of Lord
Camden or Lord Darnley was calculated to produce.

There can be no greater mistake than the supposition

VOL. II. P

210 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

that the English people are not fond of ardent speaking,
and of a vehement rhetorical enunciation. Lord Win-
chilsea is perfectly denuded of knowledge, reflection, or
command of phrase ; yet by dint of strong feeling lie
contrives to awaken a sympathy which a colder speaker,
with all the graces of eloquence, could never attain.
He seems to be in downright earnest; and although his
personal vanity may be an ingredient in his sincerity, it
is certain, whatever be the cause, that his ardour and
vehemence are far more powerful auxiliaries to his
cause, than the contemplative philosophy of the Whigs,
who, contented with their cold integrity of purpose,
adopted no efficient means to bring their tenants to the
field, and encounter their opponents with the weapons
which were so powerfully wielded against them. After
having whirled himself round, and having beaten his
breast and bellowed for about half an hour, Lord Win-
chilsea sat down in the midst of the constitutional
acclamations of the Brunswickers ; and Mr. Sheil, and
Mr. Shea, an English Catholic gentleman, both pre-
sented themselves to the Sheriff".

The Sheriff gave a preference to Mr. Shea, who
made a bold manly speech, but was interrupted by the
continued hootings of the Protestant party. The only
fault committed by Mr. Shea was, that he dwelt too
long on the pure blood of the English Catholics ; a
topic of which they are naturally, but a little tediously
fond : it were to be desired that this old blood of theirs
did not stagnate so much in their veins, and beat a little
more rapidly in its circulation. With their immense
fortunes, and a little more exertion, what might they
not accomplish in influencing the public mind ? Excel-
lent men in private life, they are not sufficiently ardent

THE PENENDEX HEATH MEETING. 211

for politicians, and should remember that their liberty
may be almost bought, and that two or three thousand
pounds well applied might have turned the Kent
meeting.

Mr. Shea having concluded, Lord Teynham rose;
and Mr. Sheil, at the Sheriff's request, gave way to
him. Lord Teynham had been a Roman Catholic. His
name is Roper, and, I believe, he is descended from
Mrs. Roper, the daughter of Sir Thomas More. He
was assailed with reproaches for his apostasy by the
Protestants ; and though he made a very good speech,
it was neutralised in its effect by his desertion of his
former creed. So universal, however unjust, perhaps,
is the antipathy to a renegade, that among the Bruns-
wickers themselves, his having ceased to be a Catholic
rendered him an object of scorn. "That fellow's
a-going to shift his religion again." "Oh, my Lord,
there's a man here as says that what your Lordship's
saying is all a d d Popish lie;" and other ejacula-
tions of the same character warned my Lord Teynham
that his change of creeds had not rendered him more
acceptable to his audience.

Lord Teynham having sat down amidst the Bruns-
wick groans, Mr. Sheil rose amongst them. He was
vehemently applauded on the right, and as furiously
howled at from the left. " Down with him, the
traitor ! " " Down with the rebel ! " "Apologise for
what you said of the Duke of York !" " Send him
and O'Connell to the Tower !" He got his freehold
last night in Maidstone \" "Down with him !"
"Off, Sheil, off !"" We're not the Clare freeholders;"
" See how the viper spits !" "How the little hani-
mal foams at the mouth; take care of him, he'll bite

p 2

212 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

you;" "Off, Shell, off!" were the greetings with
which this gentleman was hailed by the Brunswickers,
while his own party cried out " Fair play ! " " Oh, you
cowards, you are afraid to hear him I" Of what Mr.
Shell actually said, it is impossible to give any account,
and the miraculous power by which the " Sun" news-
paper of that night contrived to publish his oration in
three columns, must be referred to some Hohenloc's
interposition in favour of that journal. I heard but
one sentence, which I afterwards recognised in print, as
having been spoken.

" See to what conclusion you must arrive, when you
denounce the advocates of Emancipation as the enemies
of their country. How far will your anathema reacli ?
It will take in one-half of Westminster Abbey ; and is
not the very dust, into which the tongues and hearts of
Pitt and Burke and Fox have mouldered, better than
the living hearts and tongues of those who have sur-
vived them ? If you were to try the question by the
authorities of the illustrious dead, and by those voices
which may be said to issue from the grave, how would
you determine ? If instead of counting votes in St.
Stephen's Chapel, you were to count monuments in the
mausoleum beside it, how would the division of the
great departed stand ! Enter the aisles which contain
the ashes of your greatest legislators, and ask your-
selves as you pass, how they felt and spoke, when they
had utterance and emotion, in that senate where they
are heard no more: write 'Emancipator* upon the
tomb of every advocate, and its counter epitaph on
that of every opponent of the peace of Ireland, and
shall we not have a majority of sepulchres in our
favour?"

THE PENENDEX HEATH MEETING. 213

"\Vith this exception, I do not think that the Irish
demagogue uttered one word of what appeared in the
shape of an elaborate essay in the newspapers. After
having stamped, and fretted, and entreated, and
menaced the Brunswickers for half an hour, during
which he sustained a continued volley of execrations,
Mr. Sheil thought it prudent to retreat, and was suc-
ceeded by Mr. Larkin, an auctioneer from Rochester,
who delivered a very clever speech in favour of radi-
calism, but had the prudence to keep clear of emanci-
pation. His occupation afforded a fine scope for
Brunswick wit. " Knock him down going, going,
gone ! " and similar reminiscences exhibited the aris-
tocracy of the mob. Mr. Larkin was not at all dis-
turbed, but with an almost unparalleled sang-froid, drew
a flask from his pocket, and refreshed himself for the
next sentence, when the uproar was at its height.

When he had finished, Sir Edward Knatchbull, the
member for the county, and Cobbett, who had been
railing for hours at the long speeches, got up together.
The Sheriff preferred Sir Edward, upon which Cobbett
got into a fit of vehement indignation. He accused
the Sheriff of gross partiality, and while Sir Edward
Knatchbull was going on, shook his hand repeatedly at
him, and exhibited the utmost savageness of demeanour
and of aspect. His face became inflamed with rage, and his
mouth was contorted into a ferocious grin. He grasped
a large pole, with a placard at the head of it in favour
of Liberty, and .standing with this apparatus of popu-
larity, which assisted him in supporting himself at the
verge of his waggon, he hurled out his denunciations
-against the Sheriff. The Brunswickers roared at him,
and showered contumely of all kinds upon his head, but

214 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

with an undaunted spirit, he persevered. Sir Edward
Knatchbull was but indistinctly heard in the tumult
which his own party had got up, to put Cobbett down.
He seems a proud, obstinate, dogged sort of Squire,
with an infinite notion of his own importance as au
English County Member, and a corresponding con-
tempt for seven millions of his fellow-citizens. He has
in his face and bearing many of the disagreeable
qualities of John Bullism, without any of its frankness
and plain-dealing. Cobbett was almost justified in
complaining that such a man should be preferred to
him. "When he had terminated a speech, in which it
was evident that he was thinking of the next election,
at which the Derings intend to dispute the county
with him, Cobbett was allowed by the Sheriff to pro-
ceed.

His hilarity was restored for a little while, and hold-
ing out his petition against tithes, he set about abusing
both parties. In a letter published in the " Morning
Herald," he takes care, in his account of the meeting,
to record the opprobious language applied by the mul-
titude to others ; but he omits all mention of what was
said of himself. " Down with the old Bone-grubber I"
" Roast him on his gridiron;" " D n him and his
Indian corn ;" was shouted from all quarters. He was
not, however, much discomposed at first, for he was
confident of carrying his petition, and retorted with a
good deal of force and some good-humour on those who
were inveighing against him. " You cry out too weakly,
my bucks !" said he, snapping his fingers at them.
"You cry like women in the family-way. There's a
rascal there, that is squeaking at me, like a parson's

THE PEXEXDEX HEATH MEETING. 215

These sallies amused everybody; but still the roar
against him continued, and I was astonished to see
what little influence he had with even the lower orders
by whom he was surrounded. The Catholic party
looked upon him as an enemy, who came to divide
them, and the Bruns wickers treated him with mingled
execrations and scorn. At length he perceived that
the day was going against him, and his eyes opened to
his own want of power over the people. Though he
afterwards vaunted that the great majority were with
him, he appeared not to have above a dozen or two to
support his proposition, and when he sat down, evident
symptoms of mortification and of rage against all parties
appeared in his countenance. Altogether he acquitted
himself as badly as can be well imagined ; and it seems
to me as clear that he is a most inefficient and power-
less speaker, as that he is a great and vigorous writer.
Hunt got up to second him, and was received almost as
badly as his predecessor, though his conduct and man-
ner were quite opposite, and he did everything he could
by gentleness and persuasiveness to allay the fury of
the Brunswick party. But after he had begun, Sir
Edward Knatchbull interrupted him in a most improper
and offensive manner, which induced Lord Radnor to
stand up and reprobrate Sir Edward's conduct as a
most gross violation of decorum.

Mr. Hunt went on ; but, whatever may be his sway
with public assemblies on other occasions, he certainly
showed few evidences of omnipotence upon this. He
seemed to be crest-fallen, and to have quailed under
the force which was brought to bear against him. One
story he told well, of Sir Edward Knatchbull having
refused to pay him for four gallons of beer when he was

216 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

a brewer at Bristol, because he had sold him a less
quantity than that prescribed by the law : altogether his
speech, if it might be so called, when he was not
allowed to utter a connected sentence, was a complete
failure; but I am convinced that no estimate of his
ability can be formed from this specimen of him, as his
voice was stifled by the faction to which he was opposed.
Indeed both parties seemed to repudiate Cobbett and
Hunt, as their common enemies.

Before Hunt had finished, there was a tremendous
and seemingly a preconcerted cry of Question from the
Brunswickers ; Hunt went on speaking, and immense
confusion took place. Mr. Calcraft interfered in vain.
Mr. Hodges and Lord Radnor then moved an amend-
ment, declaring that the measure should be left to the
discretion of the legislature ; and amidst a tumult, to
which I never witnessed anything at all comparable, the
Sheriff put the question. It has been stated in the
newspapers that the Brunswickers had a great majority;
the impression of a vast number of persons was quite
the reverse. They were indeed so well disciplined, that
their show of hats was simultaneous ; while the liberal
party hardly knew what was going forward. The
Sheriff omitted to put Cobbett's amendment, which
seemed to be forgotten by every one but himself; and
having announced that there was a large majority for
the petition moved by Mr. Gipps, retired from the
chair. The acclamations of the Brunswickers were
reiterated ; the whole body waved their hats, and lifted
up their voices; the parsons shook hands with each
other; the Methodists smiled with a look of ghastly
satisfaction; and Lord Winchilsea, losing all decency
and self-restraint, was thrown into convulsions of joy,

THE PENEJTDEN HEATH MEETING. 217

and leaped, shouted, and roared, in a state of almost
insane exultation. The whole party then joined in
singing " God save the King" in one howl of appropriate
discord, and the assembly broke up.

Thus terminated the great Kent Meeting ; to which,
however, I conceive that more importance, as it affects
the Catholic Question, is attached than it deserves. I
have not room left for many comments, but a few brief
observations on this striking incident are necessary.
The triumph of Protestantism is not complete. The
whole body of the clergy, who are in Kent exceedingly
numerous, were not only present, but used all their
influence to procure an attendance, and the utmost
exertions were employed to bring the tenantry of the
anti-Catholic proprietors to the field,

No exertion was made upon the other side. Lord
Camden boasted that he had not interfered with a
single individual ; yet it is admitted that at least one
third of the assembly were favourable to the Catholics.
The spirit of Lord George Gordon may, by the metem-
psychosis of faction, have migrated into Lord Win-
chilsea ; but while he is as well qualified in intellect and
in passion to conduct a multitude of fanatics, his troops
are of a very different character. Will the legislature
shrink before him? Or will it not rather exclaim,
" contempsi Catilinae gladios, non pertimescam twos ?"
Will the Government permit such precedents of popular
excitation to be held up ? And does it never occur to
the Tory party that the time may not be far distant
when republicanism may choose Protestantism for its
model, and by rallying the people, act upon the same
principle of intimidation ? If the Catholics are to be
put down by these means, may not the aristocracy be

218 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

one day put down by similar expedients ? Will the
House of Lords stand by and allow all the opulence
and the rank of a large county to be trampled upon by
the multitude ? For it must occur to everybody, that
Lord Winchilsea was the only nobleman on the side of
the Petitioners, while the rest of the Peerage were
marshalled on the other. Do the patricians of England
desire to see a renewal of scenes in which the nobles of
the land were treated with utter scorn, and the feet of
peasants trod upon their heads ? Let statesmen reflect
upon these very obvious subjects of grave meditation,
and determine whether Ireland is to be infuriated by
oppression, and England is to be maddened with fana-
ticism ; whether they are not preparing the way for the
speedy convulsion of one country, and the ultimate
revolution of the other.

219

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION.

[DECEMBEB, 1829.]

"WHAT will Catholic Emancipation do for Ireland?"*
was the interrogatory which the opponents of that
measure (called by many great men, a great one), had,
for years before its enactment, strenuously reiterated.
It was said in reply, that Catholic Emancipation would,
by the removal of the causes for dissension, annihilate
dissension itself that it would banish those disastrous
divisions which were the sources of not only national

* The date of this paper will sufficiently account for whatever crude-
ness may be noticed in some of its views and recommendations. In the
first flush of their recent political victory a victory, too, which, not-
withstanding the length of the struggle, almost took the conquerors
themselves by surprise the Catholic mind was not sufficiently composed
to take a clear view of the new prospect before them, or distinctly appre-
hend its probable and legitimate results. Mr. Sheil threw out his first
impressions like other speculators. Substantially, indeed, most of the
things he suggested have been done, though not exactly in the way he
contemplated, or as speedily as he hoped. In some respects it is curious
to remark how events outstripped his expectations. He speaks, for
example, of the extinction of Protestant monopoly in the municipal
corporations as a reform rather desirable than probable; and seems not
to have had the boldness to raise his eyes to the judicial bench, or
sufficient strength of imagination (although a man of so lively a fancy)
to conjure up the figure of a Catholic judge.

220 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

rancour, but of crime, which, from its universality,
became almost equally national that tranquillity
would be speedily restored, and that peace would lead
commerce and capital into a country from which an
agitation, bordering upon insurrection, had made them
exiles that the distinctions between Protestants and
Roman Catholics would almost instantaneously vanish,
and the feeling of common citizenship would supersede
the artificial and odious relations of sect in which men
were placed towards each other that the ancient
antipathy to England would not merely subside, but
that the hostility which previously prevailed, would be
superseded by a lofty gratitude for the great boon of
liberty that the Union, which had hitherto consisted
in a mere statute, would be converted into palpably
beneficial results; and, that if Ireland had lost her
existence as a province, she would become an integral
portion of the empire, co-ordinate with England itself.
These, and still warmer even than these, were the
prophecies of those annunciators of felicity, who dis-
covered in this single measure a remedy for every evil,
and the origin of every good; who believed that Eman-
cipation would operate as a specific as immediate in its
relief as universal in its influence; and that nothing
else would be required in order to convert a country
beyond almost every other in the European system
distracted and miserable, into a spot as happy as
perfect civilization, equal laws, well-regulated habits,
the general diffusion of wealth, and the unlimited pro-
pagation of intelligence, could render it. The event,
which was regarded as the probable author of all this
good, has taken place; and in lieu of the former
interrogatory, which was so long pressed in earnest

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 221

reiteration upon onr ears, another has been substi-
tuted; and instead of hearing it asked, "What will
Emancipation do?" we hear it every day inquired,
What has Emancipation done for Ireland ?"

The last time this question was put to me, I
happened to be sitting at the table of a friend of mine,
who, although he differed from me in politics and in
religion, has not allowed his polemical and theological
predilections to interrupt a friendship which has been
of some years' continuance. He put the question to
me with a good deal of taunting, anticipating that I
should be unable to give him a satisfactory answer.
I remained for a moment silent, and he availed himself
of my taciturnity to repeat the question. " Has it,"
he added, " realized those visions of prosperity which
were spread out in all the gorgeousness of a splendid
rhetoric before us ? Has it at all contributed to calm
the public mind, to charm the envenomed antipathies
which are twined about our hearts, and to make them
let loose their hold ; to introduce into society a more
kindly and cordial demeanour ; to produce a confidence
between the landlord and the tenant; to generate
cordiality amongst those who stand so much in need of
all the mutualities of good- will ; to induce men to con-
federate in the support of the law, instead of arraying
themselves against it; to remove the old and almost
inveterate grudge to Protestantism, and the country
from which it has been imported; to associate the
Catholic clergy with the State, to pave the way for
education, and to render us a moral, a religious, a
peaceful, a united, an instructed, and English people ?"

These questions were put to me with a strength and
energy of interrogation, to which I should have found

222 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

it difficult to make any sort of effective response, when,
fortunately for me, tlircc of the little children of my
friend, entered the room, and at once furnished me
with a reply. They approached their father, and
straight began to climb his knees in the usual
emulative spirit of endearment, in order to share the
kiss, which was the object of their infantine com-
petition. While the eldest, a girl of eight years of age,
with beautiful eyes, and with her fine flaxen hair
streaming over her shoulders and temples, was gaining
the height for which she struggled, and fastening her
arms, like tendrils, round the neck of her father, who,
while he affected to push her away, was all the while
helping her up to his embrace, I advanced, and laying
my hand upon the child in such a way as to startle her,
w r hile she shrank back into the bosom of her father,
I said,

" What has Emancipation done for Ireland ? You
have the answer at your heart. It has saved your
home from profanation barred the doors of your
house against rapine and against massacre given you
leave to hold your children in your bosom without
trembling at the fate which lately impended over them
given you a security that the earnings of your honour-
able industry will descend to your offspring without
the chances of spoliation, and afforded you a just
ground for the conviction, that as the peace of your
country has been secured against the tremendous
hazards to which it was exposed, your children will
grow up in the midst of happiness and of plenty, and
in place of being the victims, as they were recently
likely to be, of a terrific struggle, which, though
delayed for years, was still receiving every day the

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 223

ingredients of acceleration, will be safe from every
peril; and when you are dead (though you will not be
altogether gone while they remain), will be exempt
from those calamities of which even the anticipated
possibility is a disaster in itself."

This was my reply. Many of my readers may, at
the first perusal, deem it to be fraught with exag-
gerated matter ; but let them pause a little, and look-
ing back, and as far as it can be done with calmness
and a cool and tranquil spirit, at what has befallen, let
us endeavour to ascertain whether already Emancipa-
tion has done nothing for Ireland.

But a few months ago, in what condition were we
placed ? There was a time, and it has only just gone
by, when the man who was bold enough to state that
the country was upon the verge of convulsion, would
have provoked the Attorney-General, and called down
his ex-officio terrors upon his head. It is not very
surprising that the Government should have listened
to those dismal announcements with great disrelish, and
should have been unwilling that truths so formidable
should be told. At present, however, in pointing to
the danger which has been escaped, we have a deeper
consciousness of our security, and the rolling of the
waves makes us only feel the firmness of the shore from
which we survey their tremendous agitation.

In my opinion, and I have had some means of form-
ing a correct estimate of the condition of the country,
the state of Ireland was, before the settlement of the
great question, terrible indeed. The local government
had been entirely superseded. A power had arisen,
under the name of the Catholic Association, whose
democratic influence, exercised through the medium of

224 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the sacerdotal confederation, which had been brought
into alliance, engrossed all authority. No representa-
tive assembly ever presented to the people a more
faithful and express image of themselves. They were
delighted with a government which, in truth, consisted
of themselves, or was, at least, the condensed and con-
centrated spirit of the seven millions over which it
exercised an undisputed and absolute sway. The Lord-
Lieutenant and his secretary, and all the inferior
machinery of the ordinary executive, together with the
crown officers and the judges, were held at nought,
when compared with the formidable Association, whose
harangues were proclamations, and whose resolutions
were law. From the Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear,
the two extremities of the country, there prevailed a
sentiment of deep and imperturbable unanimity; and
it is now useless to disguise it, that of that unanimity,
a profound detestation of England, and a longing
for retribution, were among the principal con-
stituents.

In the south of Ireland, under pretence of assem-
bling for the purposes of reconciliation, the peasantry
met in bodies, which men accustomed to the calculation
of the materials of which large masses are composed,
estimated at twenty thousand men. The north pre-
sented a spectacle as strange, and even more alarming.
Mr. Lawless, without, I believe, intending to produce
any such effect, gathered about him an assemblage of
the Roman Catholic population, which exceeded any
which had ever before been collected in Ireland; and,
but for the providential interposition of his own well-
grounded apprehension of the consequences, this amaz-
ing body would have advanced upon their antagonists,

EFFECTS OF EilANCIPATION. 225

and upon their first shock would have created a civil
war.

All this while the eyes of France and America were
fixed upon Ireland. The journals of the former country
teemed with paragraphs announcing the weakness to
which England was reduced in this most vulnerable
portion of her dominions ; and the leading speakers in
the Chamber of Deputies did not hesitate to declare
that an invasion would not only be justifiable as a mea-
sure of retaliation, but would be attended with a certain
success. In America, the whole population were
brought into sympathy with Ireland; and not only
were the Irish refugees (a most active and powerful, as
well as most vindictive set of men,) animated with all
the zeal which the recollection of their supposed in-
juries had produced, but the great mass of the Republic
was agitated with a strong feeling of interest for a
country in \vhich their national antipathy to England
would be likely to find an aliment. The wrongs of the
Irish Catholics made their way as far as Canada and
Nova Scotia, and the allegiance of the Colonies was
affected by the contagion, which extended itself beyond
the Atlantic.

He must be a sceptic, indeed, who can hesitate with
respect to the results which must have ensued from
such a condition of things. Invasion, civil war, and a
massacre, upon a large scale, of the hated caste, would
have inevitably taken place. Scarce a single gentleman
in Tipperary, and in the other southern counties, would
have escaped. More than the ordinary horrors of civil
war would have attended the movement of an enor-
mous mass of the peasantry, who would have simul-
taneously arisen together, and for a season at least,

VOL. II. Q

226 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

have swept all the mounds and boundaries of civiliza-
tion before them. The cataract would have been, for a
long while, irresistible ; and, in its progress, all that is
dear, and valuable, and good, and useful, would have
been carried down the gulf, into which it would have
been ultimately lost.

What would have succeeded these events it is difficult
to conjecture. It is not unlikely that England would
have reconquered the desolation which her policy would
have produced, and the desert to which Ireland would
hare been reduced, would have been subdivided amongst
soldiers and adventurers in an universal confiscation.
Or perhaps France would have laid her grasp upon this
unfortunate country under the forms of an alliance,
and established a Hibemo-Gallican Proconsulate at the
Castle ; or the people might have been left to them-
selves, and, raising an absolute democracy out of the
ruins of every established institution, have built up a
system of government, where the shouts of the multi-
tude would have furnished a legislature, and the guillo-
tine would have provided a prompt executive ; and of
which the only advantage would have been, that each
successive faction that got possession of authority,
would, by inflicting justice upon their predecessors,
have afforded a precedent for its salutary extension to
themselves.

The danger of these calamities has happily passed
away, and if no other good had been attained, or were
likely to be achieved, still the security in which we are
at present placed would afford a noble refutation of the
disingenuous sophistries of those who insist that no
benefit has as yet resulted from the measure, and who
see, in the present state of things, nothing but a verifi-

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 227

cation of their dismal and ominous annonncements. I
am far from meaning to say that strong emotion does
not still exist amongst all classes, and that we are not
still in an exceedingly uneasy condition, which it will
require both wisdom and time, the ally of wisdom, to
relieve ; but the passions which continue to be felt are
no more than the innocuous commotion which agitates
the surface of the waters in the anchorage where we are
moored at last: and where, although the vessel may
continue to toss, and its heaving may be attended with
discomfort, yet there is no real danger to be appre-
hended, and there is no hazard that a single cable will
be slipped, or that the vessel will be blown back into
the deep.

The asperities of party have not altogether subsided,
but the revolutionary tendencies are entirely gone by.
The Protestants of Ireland may be dissatisfied at the
sudden and unexpected equalization with those over
whom they had exercised an ascendency, to which
habit had attached the attributes of a secondary nature.
The Roman Catholics, upon the other hand, may feel
that as yet they have not received any individual proofs
that a considerable alteration in the system of patron-
age has taken place. Their craving for office, which is
proportioned in its violence to the extent of its dura-
tion, has not been appeased. But although this over-
anxious solicitude for place, attended with a suspicion,
not unnatural in men who have been so often disap-
pointed, that the course of practical exclusion is to
continue, may work for the present in a way which is
more annoying than it is injurious ; yet there can be
no doubt that a feeling of loyalty, in the true and
genuine signification of the word, has begun to diffuse

Q 2

228 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

itself; and, even at this moment, I am convinced
that, although a few months only have elapsed since
the time that all Ireland was ready to start, at a
signal, to arms, an attempt to seduce the great body of
the people from their allegiance to the empire would
utterly fail.

I do not hesitate to declare it as my deliberate
opinion, formed from opportunities of most minute and
extensive observation, that if, before the Catholic
Question had been adjusted, a small body of foreign
forces, with a considerable supply of arms, had effected
a descent upon the Irish coast, the great mass of
the nation wonld have instantly joined them, and I
am equally confident, that if a great army of invaders
were, under existing circumstances, to make so rash an
experiment, the peasantry would not co-operate in such
an undertaking ; and there is scarcely a Roman Catholic
in the country raised beyond the debasement of agrarian
serfship, who would not rally under the standards of
the State, and readily expose his life in the preservation
of those liberties, in which every Irishman now bears
an equal, and, I may venture to call it, a glorious
participation.

It must not, however, be imagined that while I am
thus enthusiastic (for as I write, I feel myself a good
deal excited by the preposterous averment that Eman-
cipation has done nothing for Ireland), and while I
thus zealously point out the advantages which have
been gained by this transition from the most imminent
hazard to a perfect safety, upon that account I am
insensible to the existence of the evils which still
continue, and that I do not think it necessary to adopt
veiy speedy and efficacious means, in order to give

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 229

completion to the work which has been effected. Not
only much, but what is almost incalculably useful, has
been already effected; but it is not because a great
deal has been accomplished that little remains to be
performed. To adopt the illustration which I have
previously ventured to employ, although the vessel is
in her moorings, yet she requires to be refitted ; there
is no risk of her going down, but her rigging must be
repaired ; full many a rotten plank, which had well nigh
let in destruction, must be struck boldly out; and
although a great part of her framework must remain,
yet, when she is put on the stocks, she must be newly
timbered.

Great, although they should be gradual, alterations
are required in the whole system by which the country
has been ruled; the spirit of Catholic Emancipation
must be diffused and dispersed into every department
of the state, and into every recess of the executive it
must pervade the whole frame and body of the admi-
nistration; it must be worked into the essence and
being of the Government. It must be found every-
where at the desks of office ; on the bench of justice ;
at the green tables in the courts ; in the boxes of the
jury, and of the sheriff; in the treasury, the custom-
house, and the Castle; nay, it must appear in the
village school room and in the policeman's barrack.
In every public department, and in almost every walk
of society, and every path of life, the great moral and
political change must be demonstrated ; and then, and
only then, will all the useful consequences which it is
calculated to create be fully developed.

Let it not be conceived, that, when I inculcate the
necessity of embodying Catholic Emancipation in

230 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

palpable and substantive acts, I mean to convey that
aii ascendency over Protestantism, or even a perfect
equality with the religion of the state, is my object. I
am well aware that the fee-simple of Ireland is in the
hands of the adherents to the Establishment. As I
write without any feeling of partizanship as, at all
events, I do my best to divest myself of it (and it is
not always easy to do so) it is only consistent with
the end which I propose to myself to admit, that if I
were to travel as interpreter to an Englishman from
north to south, and from east to west, in Ireland, until
every county had been traversed, and in passing
beside a fine mansion and the walls of a beautiful
demesne, I were to be asked to whom the noble trees,
the long avenues, the green park belonged, in nearly
nineteen instances out of twenty, I should answer that
the proprietor was a Protestant. The truth is, that
even to this day, the greater proportion of the land
abides in Cromwellian or Williamite ownership. This
being the case, it were idle to maintain that the
Protestants of Ireland, few indeed in number, but
engrossing so large a proportion of the opulence of the
country, ought not to engage the attention of the
Government, and should not be allowed a certain
preponderance in the state. If no sort of regard were
to be paid to the religion of individuals, yet in the
allocation of the honours and emoluments which are at
the disposal of the Government, its patronage would
naturally flow into Protestant channels, if station
and connection were to be permitted to give it an
influence.

Many years, indeed, must go by before such a
diffusion of wealth among the Catholic body will take

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 231

place, and Protestant property will be so broken up, as
to give to the professors of the faith of the country a
title to individual favour superior to that of those who
profess the creed of the state. The majority of persons
who hold office, no matter in what department, will be
Protestant. The Bench and the Bar of Ireland (a body
which exercises a vast control over the national mind)
must be filled of necessity from that portion of the
population which is most wealthy and intelligent. The
same observation applies to every profession, and every
class of offices which are connected with the Govern-
ment; and if the plan of purposed and meditated
exclusion be wholly abandoned, still the larger mass of
property -which is in the possession of Protestants must
insensibly draw to it, by the attraction which it is
always sure to exercise, the favours of the state.

I have thus conceded in the outset that no violent
disturbance should take place in the general order of
our institutions ; but while I have made this admission,
I think that it will be readily perceived, by an impartial
and sober-minded person, uninfluenced by the passions
with which it is so difficult in Ireland to avoid being
impregnated, that this continuance of a modified
Protestant ascendency is perfectly compatible with
measures which will have the effect of raising the
Catholic body into legitimate association with the state,
and, instead of shaking the foundations of existing
institutions, will, on the contrary, give them strength
and permanence, by showing their consistency with the
national interests, and by maintaining the system upon
which they lean, and of which they are considered by
many to constitute an essential part.

Having, then, laid it down as a principle that a

232 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

certain ascendancy must be maintained, it remains to
be determined what measures should be adopted, which
will be at once perfectly reconcilable with the modified
predominance, and will, at the same time, bring the
great body of the nation into genuine and close
adhesion to the state. I am of opinion that, to
preserve a well-regulated ascendancy, nothing is requi-
site but to leave that ascendancy alone. Property
itself tvill work its own way, and to its influence the
body of the people, if in other particulars they shall
be fairly dealt with, will readily assent. If the ground
on which individuals shall be selected for the purposes
of favour be unconnected with religion, still the great
bulk of them will be Protestant, and thus, without any
discriminations and distinctions of a sectarian character,
a predominance will be maintained.

It is otherwise with respect to the Roman Catholic
body. Protestantism, with property as its auxiliary,
will always carry with it a great influence, which will
affect individual cases, and there will be no motive for
selecting a Protestant as such; but as the vast supe-
riority of numbers in the Roman Catholic population
will not give to the individual Catholic the advantage
which his individual property will give to the Protestant,
it will be right to employ, with regard to the members
of one class, a standard which will not be properly
applicable to the other. To express myself unequivo-
cally, I think that Catholics ought to be promoted,
because they are Catholics, while I do not think that
the same motive should be allowed to operate in the
nomination of Protestants, whose personal influence,
drawn from connexion and station, will necessarily
secure to them a general course of preference, without

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 233

any sort of reference to their particular forms of
religion.

I have thus suggested the general views which have
offered themselves to me, respecting the manner in
which Roman Catholic Emancipation may be carried
into effect. It will not he deemed inapposite that I
should proceed to details, and point out the particular
means by which I conceive that the great ends of
national conciliation may be attained.

The first and the most essential obj ect to be accom-
plished is the alliance of the Catholic clergy with the state;
and this conjunction (for I prefer the phrase to connexion)
may be produced by means which will be at the same
time perfectly consistent with the political and religious
integrity of that great sacerdotal corporation, and will
not shock the prejudices of those who cannot brook
the notion that the public money is to be applied in
the support of an obnoxious and antichristian priest-
hood.

It is scarcely needful to suggest the great importance
of effecting this union. If the Roman Catholic body
contained a great and powerful aristocracy, who, in
every district, exercised a great sway over the popular
passions, it might then answer every purpose to con-
ciliate such a body, and the clergy of the people might
be treated with disregard; for I have often remarked,
that in those parishes where a Catholic gentleman of
great estate happens to reside, the priest is destitute of
consequence, whilst in those parts of the country where
there is no Catholic resident of large property, the
priest assumes and exercises a nearly absolute sway.
The number of Catholic proprietors of fortune being
small, and there being a parish priest, with a brace of

234 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

coadjutors, in every ecclesiastical subdivision of Ireland,
it follows that this body must needs possess a nearly
paramount dominion. They hold the reins of the
public passions; and although it sometimes happens
that the fiery coursers pull too hard for them, still they
generally contrive, by a mixture of caresses and of
menaces, to bring them under management.

Statesmen have felt the power of this most important
national body, and it has been proposed to attach them
by the payment of direct salaries, a suggestion which
was unpalatable to the English people, who would have
considered themselves as participators in idolatry by
their contribution to the maintenance of priests ; and
which was rejected by the clergy themselves, who knew
that, in losing the confidence of the Irish nation (ever
given to distrust), they would virtually relinquish their
own power. Accordingly, the project of paying the
Catholic priesthood out of the treasury has been pro-
perly abandoned. But other means of conciliation, and
other materials of cohesion, may be readily resorted to ;
and although money cannot be directly given, because
the immediate donation would be attended with inci-
dents of discredit, yet it requires no great skill to put
it into a judicious circulation by circuitous conductors,
and to convey to the priesthood, in the shape of fair
and legitimate remuneration, what would be acceptable
as a well-earned reward for their labours, although it
might be indignantly repudiated if it came under
another, and more direct and obnoxious form.

The sums which are annually voted for the encou-
ragement of education in Ireland are considerable.

o

The aggregate of these sums is large enough to attain,
to a great extent, the objects which I propose. Let it

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 235

be remembered that nothing can be more remote from
my intention than to recommend that a system of
bribery should be instituted, and that, in consideration
of their political complaisance, the priesthood of Ireland
should receive what Foigard calls "a gratification."
I wish that the money, or at least the far larger part
of it, which is given to Ireland for the cultivation of
the national mind, should be expended in the purpose
for which it is ostensibly voted ; a small portion of it
might, without any sort of misapplication, be allocated
to the payment of clerical teachers ; but I am convinced,
from what I know of the clergy, that they would gene-
rally give their gratuitous labour in return for the
donation of instruction to the people. This might be
left, in a great measure, to their own discretion.
Feeling that they were trusted by the Government,
that they were in its employment for purposes useful
and honourable, and that they were the conductors
selected by the state for the 'diffusion of its bounty, they
could not fail to become attached to it, .and to spread
into the mass of the community, over which they
exercise an influence at once so great and so well
merited, a corresponding sentiment.

It is commonly imagined that the Roman Catholic
Church of Ireland is hostile to education. The gene-
rality of Protestants have been long taught to believe
that the dominion of the clergy depends upon the igno-
rance of the people that the autocracy of priestcraft
rests upon national ignorance, and that the gaolers of
the mind are anxious to shut out the light from every
crevice of their immense prison-house, lest their captives
should avail themselves of its admission, in order to
burst their bars, and to break through their bondage.

236 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

These imputations have been so frequently reiterated,
that they have at last grown into a general credence in
England ; and it is almost universally believed that the
clergy are not only opposed to the dissemination of the
materials of religious controversy, but that they are the
antagonists of information : that they would prevent
even the elements of literature from being diffused;
that they have anathematized the spelling-book, and
put the alphabet to the ban.

This charge is, of all others against this grossly
calumniated body, perhaps the most unfounded. The
number of charitable establishments in the city of
Dublin alone, which are under the superintendence of
the Catholic clergy, and of which the object is the in-
struction of the poor, conveys a complete refutation of
this most unwarrantable charge. Scarcely a single
Sunday goes by, without a solemn adjuration by the
priest from his pulpit, to feed the poor with intellectual
aliment, and to invest their minds with instruction. I
might point out many institutions, under the auspices
of the priesthood, which furnish a splendid contra-
diction to this baneful misrepresentation. There is
one, however, which, beyond all the rest, deserves the
most unqualified commendation.

I refer to the Christian brotherhood, established by
Mr. Edmond Price, of the city of Waterford, for the
sole purpose of educating the children of the poor.
This association, which is one of the religious frater-
nities attached by vows of celibacy and other obligations
(although the members are laymen) to the Church of
Home, originated in "Waterford. Its founder, Mr.
Price, had acquired some property in mercantile pur-
suits, which, having determined to dedicate himself

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 237

exclusively to religion, he applied to the education of
the poor of that city. He induced others to join him.
In a short time the individuals who had entered into
this society, were enabled to establish a very consider-
able school. The benefits of their truly Christian
labours were speedily experienced. Hundreds of chil-
dren, who would have been flung out in the destitution
which accompanies ignorance upon the world, acquired
under the auspices of this invaluable confraternity, the
rudiments of learning. With knowledge they acquired
morals ; and at this day there are many respectable
men in business in the city where this institution was
first cradled, who are surrounded with comforts, ap-
proximating to affluence, and who owe all they possess
to the habits which they acquired under Edmond
Price.

He was enabled, by occasional donations to his estab-
lishment, and by the application of his own property,
the entire of which he consecrated to this salutary end,
to spread the ramifications of this society beyond the
spot where it was originally planted, and everywhere it
yielded good results. There are at this moment several
establishments founded by this most excellent and
meritorious man in different parts of Ireland. He has
now four thousand boys in his different schools, who
are all gratiiitously instructed. This single individual
has done more to promote education than the whole
Kildare-street Society put together ; and it appears to
me to be a great misapplication of the public money to
confide its allocation to that demi-religious and demi-
political corporation, which is beyond all doubt the
object of no ordinary disrelish, instead of selecting such
a society, connected with the Catholic priesthood by

258 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

ties so close as to constitute a species of identity, as the
medium of distribution.

The efforts, as zealous as they are sustained and per-
severing, which have been made by this association,
are mentioned as examples of the favourable dispositions
of the Irish Roman Catholic Church towards the general
diffusion of knowledge. It is scarcely necessary to
refer to the names of the two great leaders of the
Catholic hierarchy, Doctors Doyle and Murray, as
farther corroboratives of my position. Both of these
eminent prelates, distinguished for eloquence, for eru-
dition, and for piety, have not only given their personal
sanction to the establishments for the advancement of
instruction, but out of their contracted pecuniary means,
have been always prompt in the office of contribution ;
and however numerous and multifarious their occu-
pations, have never refused to ascend the pulpit for the
purpose of enforcing, beyond any other act of bene-
volence, the merit and the usefulness of contributing to
the education of the poor. When this solicitude exists
amongst all classes of the Roman Catholic population
for the advantages of instruction, and the clergy have
manifested their alacrity in its propagation, it strikes
me that a wise Government ought to take advantage of
these dispositions, and employ such obvious means to
win a most powerful corporation to their side.

The trust which would be reposed in the priesthood
would not only have the effect of attaching them to the
State, but it would also have an immediate tendency to
conciliate the people. They are brought up with a
conviction, which habit has converted into a kind of
instinct, that the law does not exist for any other pur-
poses in their regard, excepting for those of restraint

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 239

and chastisement. This is not a very unnatural feeling.
The penal code could not fail to generate this unwhole-
some surmise. It was at one period founded in fact ;
and it would be strange if, even under a most material
change of circumstances, it did not still, to a great
extent, continue. The exclusive occupation of all places
of even the smallest emolument, and of the slightest
distinction, by Protestants, the Protestant constitution
of all public establishments, the presence of ascendancy
in every department of society, as well as in every walk
of life, must needs have impressed the peasant that he
was more or less an outcast ; that he lived but for the
purposes of suffering and of humiliation ; and that he
was, in reality, an inferior and degraded being.

The system is now changed ; but the feelings and the
habitudes which have been generated by it, will not
immediately pass away. They will not fade of them-
selves; they must be rubbed out and effaced. Direct
and active expedients must be adopted in order to
banish the fatal propensities which the peasantry have
unavoidably contracted. Education and, above all,
education through the priesthood will go a great way
in accomplishing this great good. It will, in the first
place, show them that the members of their own body,
whom they are most accustomed to respect, are the
objects of favour and confidence with the Government ;
and this demonstration will greatly tend to link them
with authority, by disabusing them of deeply-rooted
prejudice, of which I know no other means half so
effectual to effect the eradication.

In the next place, it will raise up in that generation
which is passing rapidly from childhood into puberty,
and from puberty into rail manhood, a far more moral

240 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

peasantry. Perhaps the complete amelioration of the
grown population of Ireland can scarcely be expected ;
but assuredly it is of great moment to apply the prin-
ciples and the practice of a useful system of intellectual
culture to the soil that is yet unbroken, and from whose
natural fertility so large a harvest of utility may be
reasonably expected. But even with those whose ten-
dencies are already formed, with the satellites of Cap-
tain Rock, whose sports are sought in tumults, and
who light up their festivities with conflagrations, I do
not despair of doing much through a similar instru-
mentality.

Let the most vehement supporter of the agrarian
system of Draconic legislation (whose laws are indeed
written in blood), behold his children going every day
day to a public school, of which his priest is the master;
let him every day feel, in his own domestic circle, the
benefits of that instruction which is gratuitously con-
veyed, and through a grateful and a respected medium,
to his own family ; let him at the break of day, as he
goes to his labours in the field, and as he returns from
them at its close, behold, in the village school-house, an
evidence and a monument of the fair and kindly inten-
tions of those by whom the law is administered and
enforced, and, gradually, if not at once, the good
feelings of his nature will get the upper hand, his
generous emotions will prevail, and instead of trans-
mitting his evil inclinations to his progeny, he will, on
the contrary, derive from them some portion of the
salutary sentiments with which they will have been
inspired.

I have given little more than a few outlines, the
mere general view, or, as the French say, the aper^u of

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 241

this most important question. I cannot, within the
compass to which an article of this kind must neces-
sarily be confined, enter into minute details; yet, before
I leave the topic of education, I cannot refrain from
adverting to what has always appeared to me to he
most deserving of the attention both of the Legislature
and of the Government, I mean the larger endowment
and augmentation of the funds of- Maynooth College.

They are at present miserably insufficient even for
the purposes which are proposed, and they would be
utterly inadequate to the greater and more national
ends, of which this college might be made the instru-
ment. When Mr. Canning was in Ireland, he visited
Maynooth incognito, and was disgusted with the neces-
sities to which he found that poverty had reduced both
the professors and the students in what ought to be a
great national seminary. But, considering the poor
pittance which is given for the education of such a body
as the priesthood of seven millions, it is rather won-
derful that so much has been accomplished, than sur-
prising that little has been effected. Take the priests
of Ireland, and on the average they will be found to
possess information quite beyond their comparative
means of acquiring it; and their manners, although
deficient, perhaps, in the gracefulness and merits which
a Jesuit would exhibit, are seldom or never rude, and
even when they are so, are not intended to be offensive.

When, therefore, Maynooth has done so much, it
should be an inducement to the Government to turn
it to still larger and more useful account, and by
elevating the source from which clerical instruction is
derived, to give it, in its progress through the country,
a deeper and a wider current. Why should not a

VOL. II. B

242 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Catholic college, with nearly all the honours and ad-
vantages of a university, be established? If it be
admitted that the priesthood are a most important and
influential body, and that upon them the improvement
of Ireland is mainly dependent, it is quite obvious that
the nursery of that priesthood is deserving of the most
solicitous care.

It is, then, at Maynooth that the great business of
national reformation should commence. Let its pro-
fessorships be honourably endowed; let the chairs of
the college be the rewards of great talent and erudition,
which independence will unquestionably stimulate : let
the course of studies be lengthened, and instead of
merely catching up enough of Latin to go through the
diurnal process of reading the breviary, let the students
be made as much masters of the classical languages,
and the works of which they are the medium, as the
scholars of foreign universities ; let science be culti-
vated, let eloquence be studied, and the principles of
good taste be fixed in the mind ; and, above all, let a
deep persuasion, founded upon the evidence of the facts
brought home to their own doors, be established, that
the Government of these countries, instead of giving to
the church of the people a cold and equivocal support,
Tvhich rather blighted than sheltered it, are unaffectedly
anxious to nurture and to sustain it, and upon noble
and extended branches to make it bear valuable fruit.

While I give this recommendation, I am far from
meaning to say that the University of Dublin is to be
despoiled in order to enrich its younger sister. Let
their portions be both independent of each other, and
let the establishment, more directly connected with the
state, be the more favoured of the two. No Eoman

EFFECTS OP EMANCIPATION. 243

Catholic will begrudge the wealth of that University,
where it must be owned that, as far as the students are
concerned, there is no invidious distinction between
Catholics and Protestants maintained. But the pre-
ference to be still given to Dublin College is perfectly
compatible with a large extension of favour to the Insti-
tution, which has hitherto been treated as a mere step-
child, and allowed to starve for want of a sufficiency of
aliment for its natural and wholesome sustenance.

The advocates of the Established Church in Ireland,
and especially Lord Plunket, have repeatedly insisted
that the distribution of a number of well-educated
persons through the country, who were bound by their
profession to maintain a decency and a regularity of
conduct, so far from being injurious to the community,
was accompanied by signal advantages, and tended to
counteract the evils of squirearchy in Ireland. They
have expatiated upon the good results of the system of
residentship, which the recent enforcement of it among
churchmen was likely to produce, and have plausibly
contended that the want of a local gentry was supplied,
in a great degree, by the members of the established
religion, who, in the great majority of instances, spent
most of their time in their cures.

I am not prepared to controvert the justice, to a cer-
tain extent, of these observations ; but if it be true that
a body of enlightened gentlemen, with moderate in-
comes, whose manner and deportment afford incentives
to civilization, are calculated to be useful, though they
should be the ministers of a religion which is not onlv
not that of the people, but which has been the object of
their antipathy, how much larger would be the advan-
tages which would ensue from the location in every

B 2

244 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

district of a well-educated, refined, and intelligent
clergyman, with literary tendencies, and accomplished
manners, unattended by the domestic solicitudes which
are incidental to the connubial condition of the Pro-
testant clergy, and placed in a happy and virtuous mean
between indigence and luxury, with leisure and incli-
nation to cultivate his own mind, and to improve the
habits of those who should be committed to his charge.
The creation of such a clergy in Ireland, for which
there exists admirable materials, would, beyond all
doubt, work a great national improvement; and the
first measure to be adopted for the effectuation of this
end, is the larger endowment of Maynooth. It appears
to be strangely incongruous that the sum of 25,0007.
should be annually granted to the Kildare Street
Society, for the purposes of education, and that no
more than 9,828A should be granted for the academical
instruction of that most influential body, which might
be easily rendered the moral police of Ireland.

The consideration of the means of pacifying and
mitigating the peasantry through the instrumentality
which I have suggested, leads me to some reflections
upon the course which is now pursued, in order to keep
them under restraint. There can be little question en-
tertained as to the failure of the constabulary force in
the prevention of crime, and in the production of
peaceful habits amongst the people. A small party of ten
or twelve men, dressed in green jackets and trowsers,
with leathern belts round ther waists, to which a sword
is appended, and provided with a musket and cartridge-
box, are stationed in the midst of an enormous and
most tumultuous population. They are generally
Protestants, and Protestants of the worst class, most

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 245

of them being initiated into the mysteries of Orangeism.
Their functions alone would be sufficient to make them
the objects of popular aversion, and it seemed to be
scarcely necessary to superadd religion as a farther
ingredient of alienation.

Knowing that they are detested, and being few in
number, they are rendered cruel by the danger to
which they are exposed, and when surrounded by an
angry rabble, are always ready to have recourse to their
fire-arms and to their bayonets, and in many instances
anticipate, instead of waiting for provocation. The
number of homicides (to use ^the most modified phrase)
committed by the police in a single year, affords a proof
of the necessity of introducing some alteration in the
structure of this rural force. It is but necessary to
refer to the dreadful transactions at Borrisokane, in
order to illustrate the justice of this observation.*

If it were inquired of me what expedient I should
adopt, with a view to the proposed amelioration, I would
suggest, in the first place, that, in the selection of
persons to serve in the police, care should be taken to
create a mixture of Catholics and of Protestants, and
that a preference should, in general, be given to the
professors of the creed of the people. Before the set-
tlement of the Catholic Question, it was quite natural,
and indeed it was almost necessary, that a government
built upon the principle of exclusion should, even in

* At Borrisokane, in the county of Tipperary, there occurred, shortly
before this paper was written, a sanguinary collision between the populace
and the police. Since that period (chiefly during the administration of
the Marquess of Normanby and Lord Morpeth) the Irish police, or
constabulary force, has been thoroughly reformed. A good character
and a vigorous constitution are now the only qualifications of a constable
regarded by the heads of the department.

246 POLITICAL, SKETCHES.

the exercise of its inferior patronage, take care to sus-
tain the system of ascendency, and draw the underlings
of power from the same storehouse of orthodoxy out
of which higher functionaries were supplied. As the
monopoly of all the important offices at the bar, in the
revenue, and in the rest of the higher departments of
society, held the gentry of Ireland together, and pro-
duced a coalition, of which Protestantism was the
cement, so amongst the inferior order of Protestants,
the loyal plebeians of Ireland, the conviction that they
would be equally the objects of predilection, and that
the whole of the minor but multifarious emoluments of
Government were to be distributed amongst them,
bound them in bonds of self-interest as strong as any
of the ligatures by which their superiors were tied
together.

There are several acts of the Irish Parliament, in
which provisoes are introduced, that all the watchmen
in Dublin, and in other considerable towns, should he
Protestants. The English reader of such clauses may
be at first disposed to start, but a little reflection will
convince him, that if the exclusive policy was to be
maintained, there was every reason to extend it to the
lower from the better orders of society. I account for
the majority of Protestants in the police upon this prin-
ciple of selection. There is no longer any motive for
practising these expedients in order to strengthen the
Protestant interest. To keep the country was formerly
its object, and it was only by the uniform and syste-
matic preference of the smaller caste, and by the crea-
tion of division, that this could be effected ; but now
that all danger of losing the country is entirely passed
by, the object should be to pacify and to civilize it, and

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 247

the attainment of these ends requires upon the part of
the authorities an adaptation of the means to the cha-
racter, habits and prejudices of the people.

To apply these abstract remarks to the subject which
gave rise to them, the constitution of the constabulary
force, I think it obvious that the Irish gendarmerie,
as they have been not inappositely designated, should
be made as little obnoxious to the peasantry as it is pos-
sible; and that, if authority be always more or less odious,
especially in a country circumstanced as Ireland is,
efforts should be made to divest it, as far as it is possible
to do so, of the qualities which create antipathy; and
to make it acceptable to the people, the Catholicity of
the police would go a great way in accomplishing this
purpose. If every Sunday they were seen marching
to chapel, and not to church, and if they were mixed
with the populace round the altar, while the priest
lifted up his hands, and exclaimed, " Dominus vobis-
cum ! " the extension of this indiscriminate benediction
over all his auditors would divest even the most ob-
noxious portion of his congregation of a good deal of
their offensive attributes, and induce the people to
merge the policeman in the Catholic, to pardon the
shouldering of the musket for the sake of the genu-
flection at the altar, and almost to embrace with cordia-
lity the man whom they now regard with horror, and
for whose blood, in every tumult, they feel a ferocious
appetite, to which there is not unfrequently applied the
stimulant of wrong.

It will not be enough that the great mass of the
police should be Roman Catholic; it would also be
most useful that the chief constables should be selected
from the same portion of the community. On the

248 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

character of the chief constable must, in a great
measure, depend the dispositions and the conduct of
the persons under his control. It would be judicious
to confer upon the Catholic priesthood some little
patronage in the selection both of the men and of their
superiors. This privilege would operate as a compen-
sation for the want of salaries from Government to the
priesthood, to which, at least in the present state of the
country, I am entirely averse. If the priest, the chief-
constable, and the force under him, could all be made
to pull well together, it is sufficiently clear that a far
more effectual and better-combined system of local
superintendence over the public quiet would be the
result ; and if any person who reads these observations
shall be disposed to think that I am recommending an
investment of influence and authority in the Catholic
body, and especially in its clergy, I ansAver that the
great and paramount object is to tranquillize Ireland;
to impart civilization to her people ; to eradicate and
tear up the propensities to savageness and ferocity, and
to superinduce pacific and well-ordered habitudes
amongst all classes of the community.

Before objects of such incalculable importance, all
others should vanish. There is no price too extravagant
for the purchase of public repose and the acquisition of
general tranquillity; and, if I shall be told that I am
virtually proposing a species of Catholic ascendancy,
in the measures which I recommend, even if I were to
acknowledge the charge in its widest latitude, still, if
rapine, murder, and conflagration could be put down by
these means, from the utility of their end they would
derive their vindication. Provided the furies can be
bound,it is of little moment how the chains are fabricated.

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 249

But in truth, there is no ascendancy, nor anything
like an ascendancy of Catholic influence contained in
these expedients. It might as well be said, that,
because Greek sailors work the Turkish vessels, there-
fore the Greeks are the masters of the Ottoman navy.
I have assigned to Roman Catholics, according to my
plan, no situations which can give them an undue, or
even a considerable political influence. Of what
account in the balance would be all the artificial
weights which I have superadded to Catholicism, if it
were to enter the scales against Protestant property?
Let not the members of the Establishment take alarm,
their millions of acres will outweigh the school-houses
of the Catholic clergy and the barracks of a Catholic
police.

The administration of justice must immediately
engage the attention of the Government. The same
policy which gave a Protestant character to the inferior
departments of the executive, did not, of course, fail
to impress it upon the public tribunals. This was not
only consistent, but inevitable. In times of civil
commotion, justice throws down her balance, lifts the
veil from her eyes, and brandishes the sword. I am
surprised that Protestants take the impeachment of the
partial administration of the law in bad part. How
could they have existed amidst an inflamed and exas-
perated nation, unless they had reserved to themselves
the artificial constituents of power, and counteracted
the immense disproportion of numbers by the influence
of combination? The instincts of self-preservation
operated to a great extent in all the expedients which
were adopted in order to maintain a predominance, and
nowhere so much as in the administration of the law.

250 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

The judges were Protestant by Act of Parliament ;
but that was not sufficient. The conspicuous station,
which is occupied by a person who fills judicial func-
tions, must render him exceedingly cautious in the
manifestation of his biasses ; whereas the comparatively
obscure, and the transitory nature of the duties of a
juror, render him less obnoxious to criticism, and
readily commend his delinquencies to oblivion. I am
convinced that there has been much fouler work
practised in the sequestration of a juror's chamber,
than was ever in the worst times perpetrated on the
bench. It will be, I hope, recollected, that I am not
now indulging in any invective against the system
which existed before Catholic Emancipation had made
it superfluous. I am at the same time accounting for
the existence of past and almost inseparable abuses,
and pointing out the inexpediency of adhering to them
with a factious pertinacity, when circumstances have
undergone so great a change^

There no longer exists any plausible motive for
arraying a band of Protestants in the jury box, when-
ever a delinquent against not only the laws of society,
but of humanity, is put upon his trial. In the recent
trials which took place in the county of Tipperary, in
almost every case the jurors were Protestants. I do
not mean to say that the Crown paid any regard to
the religion of those who were put aside. The panel,
however, is so constituted, that Protestantism is always
to be found at the top ; and, indeed, it is of such depth,
that the twenty challenges given to the prisoner cannot
get below it, and reach the substratum of Catholicity
which is to be found in the lower degrees of the
panel.

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 251

This is a most serious evil. Though justice may be
administered with the purest impartiality by a body of
Protestant jurors, still a community so suspicious and
distrustful as the Irish peasantry will always refer their
verdicts to their religion. It has been often said, but
it cannot be too frequently repeated, that it is of as
much consequence to impart a confidence in the admin-
istration of the laws to the lower classes, as to render
it pure and unbiassed. I cannot avoid the expression
of a wish, that as much attention had been paid to the
character of justice as to its purity ; for it is as baneful
that its reputation should be tarnished, as that its
integrity should be debauched. Positive directions
ought to be given to compound the juries of mixed
ingredients.

It must, however, be admitted, in fairness to the
Irish Government, that they have already taken one
great step in effecting a material improvement ; a great
number of Roman Catholic gentlemen have been
named sheriffs for the succeeding year, in the counties
where their respective properties are situated. The
sight of a Catholic sheriff in his carriage drawn by four
horses, as he enters the assize town with the judges,
while a long train of halbert bearers, attended with a
brace of trumpeters, make up the procession, will have
an imposing influence upon the great mass of the
spectators, whose political notions are not unfrequently
founded upon such apparently insignificant circum-
stances. But until either the appointment of the
sheriff of the city of Dublin shall be wrested from ther
Corporation, or the Corporation itself shall receive a'
large accession of Catholicity, (an event by no means
probable), it will be utterly impossible to render

252 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the administration of the law satisfactory to the
people.*

The case with respect to the sheriffs of Dublin is
very simple. The sheriffs elect the jurors, the corpo-
rators elect the sheriffs, and the corporators are,
almost to a man, possessed by the most violent spirit of
factious partizanship. The very sources being thus
discoloured, it can scarcely be expected that the
currents that flow out of them should be exceedingly
crystalline and pure. This vitiation of justice in the
metropolis is the more disastrous, inasmuch as almost
all important political questions which fall within the
cognizance of our public tribunals are decided by
Dublin jurors. The press is thus completely at the
mercy of the Corporation ; and it is to be feared that
it is not merely in matters of a direct political tendency
that these evil influences have an operation, but in
cases between man and man, and where there is no
ostensible avenue for the admission of political motives,
it is to be apprehended, and at all events it is habit-
ually suspected, that the men who are so eminent for
their factious zeal beyond the jury box, are not entirely
free within it ; and that the same passions which act
upon them in all the walks of ordinary life, are not,
the moment they assume their jurist functions, miracu-
lously put aside.

But, however the fact may stand, it is certain that
the Corporation juries have grown into general dis-
credit. It is a common observation that " a Catholic
has little chance with them;" and whether it be well
or ill founded, it is clear that pains ought to be taken

* TLere is now but one High Sheriff of the city of Dublin ; he is
appointed by the Government.

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 253

to do away this most injurious of all impressions. If
the Government shall seriously determine to abate this
abuse, they will not find it very difficult. They have a
vote in the appointment of sheriffs as it is ; but this is
a power which they will be slow to exercise, except in
cases of peculiarly offensive nomination. The enormous
misapplication of the funds vested in the Corporation
of Dublin for the benefit of the citizens, affords an
opportunity of bringing the whole Corporation under
legislative revision ; and it will be no very great stretch
of authority to take away from them the main engine
of their power, when once the principle of interference
shall have been adopted.

I have limited myself, in the consideration of the
evils which affect Ireland, and the remedies of those
evils, to that class of injury which arises immediately
from the relative condition of the Protestant and
Catholic population. The first object of the Govern-
ment ought to be to correct the bad consequences of that
penal code which it is not sufficient to abolish, in order
to efface the traces which it has left behind. I avoid,
for the present, any discussion upon other subjects not
proximately connected with Protestantism and Catho-
licity, though I am fully sensible of the importance of
the great topics of emigration, and the enforcement of
a provision for the poor. To these momentous themes
I shall hereafter direct my attention, satisfying myself
at present with observing, that the great obstacle in
the way of Poor laws, which is supposed to arise from
the difficulty of procuring an effiiacious system of
overseer ship, might be overcome, by making the
Protestant and Catholic clergymen the stewards of

254 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the pauper fund, and obliging them to account half-
yearly, at vestries composed of all classes of the people.
They would act in nominal copartnership; but the
rivalry of religion, and their individual competition,
would operate as checks, while public opinion would
exercise over them a more than ordinary coutrol.

In the views which I have thrown out, I have spoken
prospectively. It may be asked, "What is the present
state of the public mind? There appears to me to
exist a languor, which is the consequence that succeeds
to great exertion, and the exhaustion of amazing
efforts. The only man in Ireland who retains his
indefatigability of spirit, and an energy that seems to
be indomitable, is Daniel O'Connell. He has invited
the nation to co-operate witli him in the repeal of the
Union with almost as much zeal as when he called on
his fellow-citizens to confederate in the cause of
Emancipation. Hitherto, however, there has been but
a very feeble echo returned to his trumpet-tongued
adjurations. The aristocracy stand aloof; the people
are torpid and doubtful ; and one of the most zealous
of his former associates, in walking with him along the
beach of the sea, while he was pointing out the utility
and the practicability of dissolving the bonds between
the two countries, is reported to have stretched his arm
towards a steam-boat that hove in sight, and to have
replied, " There is my answer."

But although a disposition to sympathize with Mr.
O'Connell has not as yet been manifested, it must be
recollected, that, notwithstanding he may now find no
alliance in the national passions, he may soon succeed
in enlisting those best of all auxiliaries, events, upon

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 255

his side; and men who now hesitate and stand still
until incidents shall give a determination to their
conduct, may be soon hurried back into the agitation
from which they have emerged. There is in Ireland a
strong democratic feeling engendered by the discussion
of the Catholic Question, and in one shape or other it
is likely to appear. The love of noting and of hearing
inflammatory harangues has not yet passed away ; and
it would not be very difficult to organize an assembly,
which would in a short time apply as strong stimulants
to the popular passions as the celebrated Catholic
Association. As yet, O'Connell stands alone his old
companions have not united themselves with him, but
they will probably suffer a relapse into their former
habitudes, and partly from the passion for notoriety,
and partly from their vexation with the Government,
they will rally round the standard which he knew how
to bear so well. A petitioning committee, or even a
series of political convivialities provided at a few shillings
a-head, would soon furnish a wide field for the indulgence
of the rhetorical and tribunitian propensities; and a feel-
ing would be excited by dint of continuous declamation,
which would produce a gradual excitement in the
country.

The Irish Church, be it remembered, is one of the
most alluring topics which were ever offered, either to
fierce invective or to sardonic derision ; and its abuses
will, unquestionably, not escape ridicule and denounce-
ment. The transition from the correction of real evils
to the suggestion of imaginary ones, is, we all know,
not very difficult. It is, therefore, incumbent upon
the Government, and especially the local government

256 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

of Ireland, to watch with great vigilance over the
popular emotions. It will be for them to determine
whether they will choose the active spirits who have
shown themselves to be masters in the arts of agitation,
for their supporters or their foes. If any unfair deal-
ing be practised; if the system of studied exclusion
shall be adhered to ; if the underlings of office at the
Castle are permitted to exercise the virtual autocracy
which they once held ; if no substantial change shall
take place, there will soon prevail in Ireland as much
disquietude, which will be succeeded by as much con-
tention, as formerly prevailed.

I own, however, that I have a great confidence in
the wisdom and in the sound views of a man, who,
without any ostentation and false glare of liberality,
has conducted the affairs of Ireland, which is virtually
entrusted to his care, in such a way as to convince all
impartial persons that he has the real interests of the
country strongly at heart, and that he fully under-
stands them. Lord Francis Leveson Gower is a person
of great intellectual attainments, who, by extending his
honourable zeal in the pursuit of literary renown to the
acquisition of political celebrity, will, in all likelihood,
reach to the highest eminence in the State, and be one
day enabled to dispense from the heights of power the
benefits which I have no doubt his patriotism makes
him solicitous to confer upon his country.

Born upon the pinnacles of fortune, with opulence
almost incalculably great, and connected with the
great patrician families in the empire, with extensive
knowledge, genius, of which his works give such
abundant proof, and in the flower of life what may

EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION. 257

not such a man yet accomplish, by taking advantage of
the glorious opportunities with which he is encom-
passed ? The statesmen who filled the office which he
holds before him, were commissioned to sow discord,
and to perpetuate dissension in Ireland. Yet that bad
and baneful function was sufficiently important to
render them of great consequence in the political
world. How much more noble is the task which has
been assigned to him. If Mr. Peel, when his peculiar
cast of political opinions, which he has since so
generously expiated, threw him into the arms of the
ascendancy, was enabled, by his government of Ireland,
to attain to so much importance, how much more
noble are the occasions of genuine celebrity which are
afforded to the man, who, in this great crisis, holds the
reins of the Irish government, and therefore the
fortunes of Ireland, in his hands !

To give to the great name its glorious consummation;
to build up to its full height the structure of which
Wellington has laid the foundation ; to effect the per-
manent reconciliation of parties whom the accumulated
odium of a century had divided ; to banish the relics of
those animosities which, as long as they prevail, must
frustrate to a great extent all the wise designs of the
Legislature : to correct, with a hand at once cautious

O * '

and resolute, the abuses which remain to be removed,
and to deposit in the national mind the seeds of lasting
improvement ; to unite the Irish people amongst them-
selves, and at the same time to complete their identity
with the great nation, in whose liberties they now
enjoy a full participation ; these are the objects which
ought to be proposed to himself, by the nobleman

VOL. II. S

258 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

whom, without, I hope, any deviation from the personal
respect Avhich is due to him, I have thus ventured to
awaken to a consciousness of his large means to achieve
incalculable good, and endeavoured to make sensible of
all the genuine glory which would attend it.*

* Lord Francis Leveson Gower (now Earl of Ellesmcre) held the office
of Chief Secretary for Ireland for two years, the average duration of an
Irish Chief Secretaryship, but too short a period for the completion, even
by such a man, of so vast a work as Mr. Sheil chalked out for him, or
even to make any considerable progress in it. But little indeed was
done to make Catholic Emancipation a reality until Lord Morpeth's
Secretaryship, from 1835 to 1841. There was then time, as well as the
disposition and ability, to vivify the letter of the law and make it a
source of practical improvement.

Referring to that very useful work, Beatson's Political Index,
modernized, we find a list of no fewer than twenty -two Chief Secretaries
since 1800. Well might the author of the Sketches of Ireland, Past
and Present, describe it as "a quicksand Government, that swallows up
in its fluctuations every venture of reform." Sir Robert Peel's Adminis-
tration was one of the longest ; he held the office for six years, from 1812
to 1818. So long a tenure of authority ought to have been memorable
for some improvement, either moral or material ; but it was singularly
barren. In 1844, however, when in the plenitude of his power, he did
something to redeem the sins or omissions of the past; but in 1811 he
had " put off the old Adam," he was not the Peel of 1812.

259

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS.

KENSINGTON.

[AUGUST, 1829.]

THE colleges of the Jesuits have lately attracted a
good deal of attention, and the Legislature has heen
strongly called upon to seal up in this country those
fountains of Catholicism. In the recent Act of Par-
liament, a clause has been introduced, which, although
nugatory for the purposes of practical effect, shows that
the Government has found it necessary to make some
offering to the prejudices which continue to exist against
the disciples of Ignatius.* No Jesuit can, for the
future, enter these realms. It is pretty obvious that it
will not be very easy to convict a man of this newly-
created offence ; for what evidence can be produced to
establi sh the fact that a man is a Jesuit ? That of the
superior who administers the vow, or of the individual
who takes it ? The proviso is therefore destitute of all

* The provisions in the Catholic Belief Act here alluded to were espe-
cially intended to discourage the establishments of the Jesuits. The law
proved totally inoperative in this respect, so much so that monastic
institutions of all kinds have rapidly multiplied in Ireland since 1829.

s 2

260 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

validity the knife is too blunt to cut the throat of the
victim.

The Society of Jesuits will not be deterred by any
legislative expedients from prosecuting their labours;
and as far as I can form a judgment, from the expe-
rience of some years amongst them, those labours will
not in the least degree interfere with the beneficial
results of Catholic Emancipation. I have known the
chief members of that obnoxious body from a very early
period, and to me, a friend of liberty both civil and
religious, they appear to be wholly innoxious. I do
not, however, sit down to enter into any elaborate
vindication of them, nor to write an essay upon the
principle of their institution ; it is my purpose in this
article to detail what I saw and observed during my
residence at two of their schools, and to give a sketch
of the incidents of my boyhood, rather than to indite a
treatise upon the tendencies and character of a body of
men whose opinions have, I believe, been misrepre-
sented, and whose importance has been of late greatly
exaggerated.

As if it were but yesterday, though 'tis now many
years ago (eheu fugaces!), I recollect the beautiful
evening when I left my home, upon the banks of the
River Suir, and sailed from the harbour of Waterford
for Bristol, on my way to school. It is scarcely ger-
mane to the matter, yet I cannot help reverting to a
scene, which has impressed itself deeply in my recol-
lection, and to which I oftentimes, in those visions of
the memory to which I suppose everybody is more or
less subject, find it a pleasure, though a melancholy
one, to return.

There are few rivers more picturesque than the Suir

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 261

(which Spenser honoured with a panegyric) in its
passage from Waterford to the sea.* It is broad and
ample, capable of floating vessels of any tonnage, and
is encompassed upon both sides with lofty ridges of rich
verdure, on which magnificent mansions, encompassed
with deep groves of trees, give evidence of the rapid
increase of opulence and of civilization in that part of
Ireland. How often have I stood upon its banks, when
the bells in the city, the smoke of which was turned
into a cloud of gold by a Claude Lorraine sunset, tolled
(to use the expression of Dante, and not of Gray) the
death of the departing day ! How often have I fixed
my gaze upon the glittering expanse of the full and
overflowing water, crowded with ships, whose white sails
were filled with just wind enough to carry them on to
the sea; by the slowness of their equable and majestic
movement, giving leave to the eye to contemplate at its
leisure their tall and stately beauty, and to watch them
long in their progress amidst the calm through which
they made their gentle and forbearing way.

" Ne thence the Irish rivers absent were,
Sith no less famous than the rest they be,
And join in neighbourhood of kingdom near,
Why should not they likewise in love agree ?
* * * *

The first the gentle Shuir, that making way
By sweet Clonmel, adorns rich Waterford ;
The next the stubborn Nore, whose waters gray
By fair Kilkenny and Kosseponte bord j
The third the goodly Barow, which doth hord
Great heaps of salmon in his deep bosome,
All which long sundred do at last accord
To join in one, ere to the sea they come;'
So flowing all from one, all one at last become."

262 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

The murmurs of the city were heard upon the right,
and the lofty spire of its church rose up straight and
arrowy into the sky. The sullen and dull roar of the
ocean used to come over the opposite hills from the
Bay of Tramore. Immediately before me were the
fine woods of Faithleg, and the noble seat of the Bolton
family (Protestant patricians, who have since that time
made way for the more modern but wealthy Powers) ;
on the left was the magnificent seat of another branch
of the same opulent tribe, Snowhill ; and in the dis-
tance were the three rivers, the Suir, the Nore, and the
Barrow, met in a deep and splendid conflux ; the ruins
of the old abbey of Dunbrody threw the solemnity of
religion and of antiquity over the whole prospect, and
by the exquisite beauty of the site afforded a proof that
the old Franciscans, who had made a selection of this
lovely spot for their monastery, and who have lain for
centuries in the mould of its green and luxuriant
churchyards, were the lovers of Nature, and that when
they left the noise and turmoil of the world, they had
not relinquished those enjoyments which are not only
innocent, but may be accounted holy.

I had many a time looked with admiration upon the
noble landscape, in the midst of which I was born, but
I never felt and appreciated its loveliness so well as
when the consciousness that I was leaving it, not to
return for years to it again, endeared to me the spot of
my birth, and set off the beauty of the romantic place
in which my infancy was passed, and in which I once
hoped (I have since abandoned the expectation) that
my old age should decline. It is not in the midst of
its woods that I shall fall into the sere and yellow
leaf!

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 263

" Something too much of this." The ship sailed, I
landed at Bristol, and with a French clergyman, the
Abbe de Grimeau, who had been my tutor, I proceeded
to London. We took up our residence at the " Swan
with two Necks," in Lad-lane,* and after having seen
the instruments for torturing good Protestants in the
Tower, and heard the roaring of the lion in Exeter
Change, the Abbe informed me that I was to be sent
to Kensington House (a college established by the
Peres de la Foi, for so the French Jesuits settled in
England at that time called themselves), and that he
had directions to leave me there, upon his way to
Languedoc, from whence he had been exiled in the
Revolution, and to which he had been driven by the
maladie du pays to return.

Accordingly we set off for Kensington House, which
is situated exactly opposite the avenue leading to the
Palace, and has the beautiful garden attached to it in
front. A large iron gate, wrought into rusty flowers,
and other fantastic forms, showed that the Jesuit school
had once been the residence of some person of distin-
tion; and I afterwards understood that a mistress of
Charles the Second lived in the spot which was now
converted into one of the sanctuaries of Ignatius. It
was a large old-fashioned house, with many remains of
decayed splendour. In a beautiful walk of trees, which
ran down from the rear of the building through the
play-ground, I saw several French boys playing at
swing-swang ; and the moment I entered, my ears were

* This ancient inn, so well known in the days of stage-coaches, exists
no more. The improvements in the city have been fatal to it, and
Gresham Street runs across the site where it once stood.

264 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

filled with the shrill vociferations of some hundreds of
little emigrants, who were engaged in their various
amusements, and babbled, screamed, laughed, and
shouted in all the velocity of their rapid and joyous
language. I did not hear a word of English, and at
once perceived that I was as much among Frenchmen
as if I had been suddenly tranferred to a Parisian
college.

Having got this peep at the gaiety of the school into
which I was to be introduced, I was led, with my com-
panion, to a chamber covered with faded gilding, and
which had once been richly tapestried, where I found
the head of the establishment, in the person of a
French nobleman, Monsieur le Prince de Broglie.
Young as I was, I could not help being struck at once
with the contrast which was presented between the
occupations of this gentlemen and his name. I saw in
him a little, slender, and gracefully -constructed abbe,
with a sloping forehead, on which the few hairs that
were left him were nicely arranged, and well-powered
and pomatumed. He had a soft and gentle smile, full of
a suavity which was made up of guile and of weakness,
but which deserved the designation of aimable, in the
best sense of the word. His black clothes were
adapted with a peculiar nicety to his symmetrical per-
son, and his silk waistcoat and black silk stockings,
with his small shoes buckled with silver, gave him
altogether a shining and glossy aspect. This was the
son of the celebrated Marshal Broglie, who was now
at the head of a school, and, notwithstanding his
humble pursuits, was designated by everybody as
"Monsieur le Prince."

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 265

Monsieur le Prince, though neither more nor less
than a pedagogue by profession, (for he had engaged in
this employment to get his bread,) had all the manners
and attitudes of the court, and by his demeanour put
me at once in mind of the old regime. He welcomed
my French companion with tenderness, and having
heard that he was about to return to France, the poor
gentleman exclaimed "Helas!" while the tears came
into his eyes at the recollection of "cett!e belle France,"
which he was never, as he then thought, to see again.
He bade me welcome. These preliminaries of introduc-
tion having been gone through, my French tutor took
his farewell ; and as he embraced me for the last time,
I well remember that he was deeply affected by the
sorrow which I felt in my separation from him, and
turning to Monsieur le Prince, recommended me to his
care with an emphatic tenderness.

The latter led me into the school-room, where I had
a desk assigned to me beside the son of the Count
Decar, who has since, I understand, risen to offices of
very high rank in the French Court. His father be-
longed to the nobility of the first class. In the son, it
would have been at that time difficult to detect his
patrician derivation. He was a huge, lubberly fellow,
with thick matted hair, which he never combed. His
complexion was greasy and sudorific, and to soap and
water he seemed to have such a repugnance, that he did
not above once a week go through any process of
ablution. He was surly, dogged, and silent, and spent
his time in the study of mathematics, for which he had
a good deal of talent. I have heard that he is now one
of the most fashionable and accomplished men about

266 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the court, and that this Gorgonius smells now of the
pastilles of Rufillus.

On the other side of me was a young French West
Indian, from the colony of Martinique, whose name
was Devarieux. The school was full of the children of
the French planters, who had been sent over to learn
English among the refugees from the Revolution. He
was an exceedingly fine young fellow, the exact reverse in
all his habits to Monsieur le Compte Decar, on my left
hand, and expended a good deal of his hours of study
in surveying a small pocket-mirror, and in arranging
the curls of his rich black hair, the ambrosial plenty of
which was festooned about his temples, and fell pro-
fusely behind his head. Almost all the French West
Indians were vain, foppish, generous, brave, and pas-
sionate. They exhibited many of the qualities which
we ascribe to the natives of our own islands in the
American Archipelago; they were a sort of Gallican
Belcours in little; for with the national attributes of
their forefathers, they united much of that vehemence
and habit of domination, which a hot sun and West
India overseership are calculated to produce.

In general, the children of the French exiles amalga-
mated readily with these Creoles : there were, to be
sure, some points of substantial difference ; the French
West Indians being all rich roturiers, and the little
emigrants having their veins full of the best blood of
France, without a groat in their pockets. But there
was one point of reconciliation between them they all
concurred in hating England and its government. This
detestation was not very surprising in the West Indian
French ; but it was not a little singular that the boys,

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 267

whose fathers had been expelled from France by the
Revolution, and to whom England had afforded shelter
and given bread, should manifest the ancient national
antipathy, as strongly as if they had never been nursed
at her bosom, and obtained their aliment from her
bounty. Whenever news arrived of a victory won by
Bonaparte, the whole school was thrown into a ferment;
and I cannot, even at this distance of time, forget the
exultation with which the sons of the decapitated or
the exiled hailed the triumph of the French arms, the
humiliation of England, and the glory of the nation
whose greatness they had learned to lisp.

There was one boy I recollect more especially. I do
not now remember his name, but his face and figure I
cannot dismiss from my remembrance. He was a little
effeminate creature, with a countenance that seemed to
have been compounded of the materials with which
waxen babies are made; his fine flaxen hair fell in
girlish ringlets about his face, and the exquisite sym-
metry of his features would have rendered him a fit
model for a sculptor who wished to throw the beau-ideal
of pretty boyhood into stone. He had upon him a
sickly expression, which was not sufficiently pronounced
to excite any disagreeable emotion, but cast over him a
mournful look, which was seconded by the calamities of
his family, and added to the lustre of misfortune which
attended him.

He was the child of a nobleman who had perished in
the Revolution. His mother, a widow, who resided in
a miserable lodging in London, had sent him to Ken-
sington House, but it was well known that he was
received there by the Prince de Broglie from charity ;
and I should add that his eleemosynary dependence, so

268 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

far from exciting towards him any of that pity which is
akin to contempt, contributed to augment the feeling
of sympathy which the disasters of his family had
created in his regard. This unfortunate little boy was
a Frenchman to his heart's core, and whenever the
country which was wet with his father's blood had
added a new conquest to her possessions, or put Austria
or Prussia to flight, his pale cheek used to flush into a
hectic of exultation, and he would break into joyfulness
at the achievements by which France was exalted and
the pride and power of England were brought down.

This feeling, which was conspicuous in this little
fellow, ran through the whole body of Frenchmen, who
afforded very unequivocal proof of the sentiments by
which their parents were influenced. The latter I used
occasionally to see. Old gentlemen, the neatness of
whose attire was accompanied by indications of indi-
gence, and whose seamy coats exhibited an excessive
assiduity in brushing, used occasionally to visit at
Kensington House. Their elasticity of back, the fre-
quency and gracefulness of their well-regulated bows,
and the perpetual smile upon their wrinkled and
emaciated faces, showed that they had something to
do with the "vieille cour ;" and this conjecture used to
be confirmed by the embrace with which they folded
the little marquises and counts whom they came to
visit.

Kensington House was frequented by emigrants of
very high rank. The father of the present Due de
Grammont, who was at this school, and was then Due
de Guische, often came to see his son. I recollect upon
one occasion having been witness to a very remarkable
scene. Monsieur, as he was then called, the present

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 269

King of France, waited one day, with a large retinue of
French nobility, upon the Prince de Broglie. The
whole body of the schoolboys was assembled to receive
him. We were gathered in a circle at the bottom of
a flight of stone stairs that led from the principal room
into the play-ground. The future King of France
appeared, with his cortege of illustrious exiles, at the
glass folding- doors which were at the top of the stairs,
and the moment he was seen, we all exclaimed, with a
shrill shout of beardless loyalty, " Vive le Eoi \"

Monsieur seemed greatly gratified by this spectacle, and
in a very gracious and condescending manner went down
amongst the little boys, who were at first awed a good
deal by his presence, but were afterwards speedily fami-
liarised to him by the natural playfulness and benignity
of Charles the Tenth. He asked the names of those who
were about him, and when he heard them, and saw in
the boys by whom he was encompassed the descendants
of some of the noblest families of France, he seemed to
be sensibly affected. One or two names, which were
associated with peculiarly melancholy recollection, made
him thrill. " Helas ! mon enfant !" he used to say, as
some orphan was brought up to him ; and he would
then lean down to caress the child of a friend who had
perished on the scaffolds of the Revolution.

I have been drawn away from my original theme by
the scenes which, in reverting to the days of my boyhood,
rose upon me. This establishment was conducted by
several French priests, assisted by some Germans and
Italians, with the Prince de Broglie at their head.
They were almost all members of the order of Jesuits,
though they called themselves by the less obnoxious
title of " Peres de la Foi." The only person of rank

270 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

among them was the Prince de Broglie, who had, I ani
inclined to think, from motives of convenience entered
into this spiritual corporation, as the hest mode of
earning his livelihood.

At this period, the order had not been restored by
any formal bull from the Pope ; but it was notoriously
encouraged at Rome, and a considerable establishment
had been founded in Russia, where the General of the
Society resided. The Jesuits at Kensington were in
communication with him, and, from their antipathy to
everything English, disputed the authority of the Pro-
vincial of the Anglican Province. On the plea that
they were French Jesuits, sojourning only for a short
period in Great Britain, they rejected the mandates of
Doctor Stone (the Rector at Stonyhurst), and refused
to obey any injunction which was not issued by the
General himself. These differences would not, in all
probability, have arisen under the old system of regu-
lation, but the Order was only on the point of resus-
citation, and of course the discipline amongst the
" Peres de la Foi " was a little lax. For instance,
Monsieur le Prince de Broglie, the quasi head of the
French Province in England, kept a very handsome
curricle and pair, which he used to drive himself with
equal dexterity, intrepidity, and grace, and has often
won the palm of charioteering in the Olympic field of
Rotten Row. Certain frivolities (for he was a per-
fectly moral man, and his defects were little more than
the levities of a Frenchman), excited the censure of the
more rigorous members of the establishment, and espe-
cially of the Pere Alnot, who was the completest spe-
cimen of the monk for he had little of the Jesuit
about him I have ever seen.

BECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 271

This Pere Alnot was at first regarded as a saint
amongst us. He was a man of a very lofty and slender
person, and was dressed in long robes of coarse black
cloth, with a cowl thrown over his head, and a girdle
of strong black leather round his waist, to which a
massive rosary and crucifix were attached. His face,
of which we could only occasionally catch glimpses,
was wan and sallow, with glaring eyes, sparkling in the
midst of paleness and emaciation, with an evil and
inauspicious lustre. He seldom washed himself, con-
sidering uncleanness to be an incident to devotion, and
his beard, covered with filthy snuif, stood in stubbles
upon his long and pointed chin. His mouth was full
of false sweetness and guile. He lived in a small room
adjoining the chapel, where he heard the confessions of
the students ; and all its furniture corresponded with
the apparatus of the man himself. It consisted of a
few wooden chairs, a bed of the hardest materials, and
a little table, on which a skull was placed, with a lamp
burning perpetually beside it.

Here he used to sit with his elbow leaning on the
table, and his long and skinny hand placed upon his
forehead ; and when a boy told him that he had broken
into an orchard, or robbed a hen-roost, he would lift
up his eyes and heave a profound groan. This myste-
rious person was at the head of a society called " The
Sodality ;" an institution which is adopted in all Jesuit
seminaries, and which selects the Virgin Mary as the
object of its veneration. A separate chapel was dedi-
cated to her by the Pere Alnot, which he took a special
care in adorning. It was painted with green, repre-
senting heaven, and was studded over with spangles by
way of stars. I always looked upon him with an

272 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

instinctive aversion, in which I was confirmed by a
Genoese Jesuit, the Pere Molinari, who represented him
as a person of the darkest and most evil character.

Molinari was an exceedingly kind, amiable, and well-
informed man. He was the only one in the whole
school that knew a word of Greek. He had been edu-
cated, though an Italian, at Prague, and practised as a
lawyer. He then became a Jesuit, and certainly was
sincerely devoted to religion. Though entirely free
from the monkish gloom of the Pere Alnot, there was
a large infusion of fanaticism in his character. He
believed firmly in witchcraft, and was versed in all the
mysteries of demonology. The bodily presence of the
Devil was among the articles of his creed, and I recol-
lect him to have told me stories of the appearance of
Lucifer, with such a minute specification of circum-
stance, as made " my fall of hair to stir as life were
in't."

Another point in which he was a little weak was the
fatal influence of "the Illumines" in Germany. He
improved upon Barruel, which was his manual, and
regarded Waishoupt as an incarnate fiend. I have
heard him describe the midnight orgies of the German
philosophers, who, according to him, assembled in cham-
bers covered with rich scarlet cloth, and brilliant with
infernal light, where, by the power of sorcery, every
luxury was collected, and where men devoted them-
selves to Satan in a registry kept by the Secretary of
the society, where every man's name was enrolled in
his own blood. But, with the exception of these strange
credulities, he was a most estimable man he had an
heroical disinterestedness of character, and dedicated
himself with all the ardour of spiritual chivalry to the

EECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 273

cause of the Jesuits, which he regarded as identified
with that of true religion.

I was for a considerable time placed under his care,
and am indebted to him for a zealous solicitude for my
welfare. He took the greatest and most disinterested
pains in giving me instruction, and would devote hours
of unremunerated labour (for the salaries of the boys
were all paid-in to Monsieur le Prince) to the explana-
tion of difficulties, and in clearing the way to knowledge.
He was exceedingly mild in temper, but had frequent
recourse to punishment of a very intense sort. He had
a whip made of several strong cords, with knots at regu-
lar intervals, with which he used to lash the hands of
the scholars in such a way as to make the blood leap
from them. It seemed to give great pain to inflict
this chastisement, and I have seen him weep at what he
called the necessity of being severe.

He had a very extraordinary method of reconciling
the devouter students to this torture. He sentenced
you first to nine lashes, and then ordered you to hold
out your hand ; " Offer it up to God and his saints,"
he would say, " as a sacrifice." He would then select
you nine saints. The first blow was to be suffered in
honour of St. Ignatius, " Aliens, mon enfant, au nom
du plus grand de tous les Saints St. Ignace I" and
down went the whip from a vigorous and muscular arm.
" Oh ! mon Dieu !" cried the little martyr, withdrawing
his hand after the first operation. " Aliens, mon enfant,
an nom de St. Francis Xavier \" and he then inflicted
a second laceration upon the culprit. "Mais, mon
Pere, ayez pitie jamais, jamais, je ne ferai des sole-
cismes oh, mon Pere, jamais/' The Jesuit was inex-
orable-" Allons, mon enfant, au nom de Saint Louis

VOL. II. T

274 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

de Gonzaguc ;" and thus he proceeded till he had gone
through his calendar of infliction.

But -with these singularities (to us at least they
appear so), he was an exceedingly generous-hearted and
lofty-minded religionist. He would himself have looked
death in the face without dismay in the cause of St.
Ignatius ; and indeed he gave a practical proof of his
enthusiasm, by setting out at a week's warning for the
deserts of Siberia, where he proceeded by order of the
General to propagate the Gospel, and if possible to
make his way to China, in the hope that he might obtain
the reward of martyrdom in the service of the Lord.

The person who next to Molinari attracted my atten-
tion, was " Le Pere Caperon." He was a great Oriental
scholar, and was regarded as a master of the Arabic
language ; and was, I believe, as profoundly versed in
the Koran as in the Gospel. He was not employed in
teaching the boys, (an occupation for which he would
have been wholly unfit,) but in composing essays upon
the mysterious literature of the East. It was one of
our favourite amusements to disturb him in his studies.
A group would collect under his window and assail him
with all kinds of strange noises, when he would rush
forth with a huge stick, which made us all take to our
heels, and woe betide the urchin on whom he first seized.
"Oh, petit malheureux !" he would exclaim, as he
grasped some intruder upori his meditations, and
avenged upon him the losses which Oriental learning
had sustained by the trespass which we had committed
on his meditations.

Pere Caperon believed himself to be occasionally
tempted by the Devil in a more direct and palpable
fashion than Satan is apt to use. This conviction made

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 275

him frequently an object of entertainment with us.
When he said mass, he used to throw himself into such
strange attitudes, and indulge in such extra-clerical
ejaculations, that the Frenchmen used to rejoice when-
ever he administered to their devotions. The poor man
conceived that he was struggling with the demon in a
corporeal wrestle, and cast himself into postures corres-
ponding with his grotesque delusion. Sometimes he
used to bid the fiend begone to the Red Sea, and at
other times used to stamp as if he had got the head of
Lucifer under his feet.

There were few persons in this, school who were very
much calculated to create the respect of the students
whose instruction was confided to them. There was,
indeed, one very eloquent preacher, " Le Pere Colman,"
who was a German by birth, but was French in lan-
guage and manner. He had a most noble bearing, a
visage fit for canvass, a deep, sonorous voice, and a great
command of pure oratorical diction. He was, however,
too valuable to be allowed long to remain in so inferior
a spot as Kensington House, and was ordered by the
General of the Jesuits to proceed to Russia. So was
Molinari, who acted towards me a part of great kind-
ness and friendship previous to his leaving the estab-
lishment. The Prince de Broglie, he informed me, had
got himself into great embarrassments, and had made
an effort to induce the Jesuits of Stonyhurst to assist
him. "With this view he had sent a deputation to that
college, and offered to annex Kensington House to the
Anglican Province. To this proceeding, to which he
was originally adverse, on account of his national dis-
relish to everything English, he was reduced by his
emergencies. The English Jesuits were, however, too

T 2

276 TOLITICAL SKETCHES.

shrewd to acquiesce in this proposal, and it was mani-
fest that the institution must be broken up.

Molinari farther informed me, that he had been him-
self ordered into the deserts of Siberia, with instruc-
tions to penetrate, if possible, into China, as a mission-
ary of the Gospel. He recommended me to write home,
and to apprise my friends of what was about to take
place. Stonyhurst he pointed out as the best semi-
nary which I could select, and said, that if he was at
liberty to exercise any selection, he should himself have
chosen it as his residence ; but that he had no will ;
that his volition had been laid down as an offering to
his God when he had entered the order ; and that he
must at once proceed to the place of his destination. I
thanked him; he shook my hand, and proceeded to
that country, from whose bosom it is not likely that
he ever will return.

This man was the only example which I witnessed
among the Peres de la Foi of that lofty devotedness to
the interests of their society, and of that romantic
dedication of their hearts and lives to the advancement
of Catholicism, for which the Jesuits are remarkable.
The larger portion of the individuals who were
assembled by the Prince de Broglie at Kensington
House were Jesuits only in appearance. They were a
few raw recruits, got together under the banners of
the order. Molinari seemed the only genuine soldier
of Ignatius. The promptitude and alacrity with which
he at once precipitated himself into the wildernesses of
Tartary, at the mandate of a priest living in a distant
region, recalls to me what the Abbe E/aynal, who had
himself been a Jesuit, has said upon this subject.
After describing the wonderful achievements of this

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 277

extraordinary body of men, and the moral subjugation,
of the Indian tribes which was effected by them, he
says :

" It is impossible that any reader who reflects, should not be desirous
of knowing what strange infatuation can induce an individual who enjoys
all the conveniences of life in his own country, to undertake the laborious
and unfortunate function of a missionary : to quit his fellow-citizens, his
friends, and his relations ; to cross the sea in order to bury himself in the
midst of forests, to expose himself to all the horrors of the most extreme
misery, to run the risk at every step either of being devoured by wild
beasts or massacred by savages, to settle in the midst of them, to conform
himself to their manners, to share their indigence and their fatigues, to
be exposed to their passions or caprices, for at least as long a time as ia
required to learn their language and to make himself understood by
them. If this conduct be ascribed to the enthusiasm of religion, what
more powerful motive can be imagined ? If to respect to vows of obe-
dience taken to superiors, who have a right to order them to go any-
where, and who cannot be asked the reason for those orders, without
committing the crime of perjury and apostacy, what good or what evil
is it not in the power of hypocritical or ambitious masters to do, who
command so absolutely, and who are so entirely obeyed ? If it be the
effect of a deep sense of compassion for a part of the human species,
whom it is intended to rescue from ignorance and misery, what virtue
can be more heroic ? With respect to the constancy with which these
extraordinary men 'persevere in so disgustful an undertaking, I should
have imagined that by living so long among the savages, they would
have become savages themselves: but I should have been deceived in
this conjecture. It is, on the contrary, one of the most laudable of
human vanities that supports them in their career.

" ' My friend," said once to me an old missionary, who had lived thirty
year* in the midst of forests, and who, since he had returned into his own
country, had fallen into a profound melancholy, and was for ever regret-
ting his beloved savages ' My friend,' said he ' you know not what it is
to be the king, almost even the God of a number of men, who owe to
you the small portion of happiness they enjoy, and who are ever assidu-
ous in assuring you of their gratitude. After they have been ranging
through immense forests, they return overcome with fatigue and inani-
tion ; if they have only killed one piece of game, for whom do you sup-
pose it to be intended ? It is for the Father, for it is thus they call us ;

278 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

and, indeed, they are really our children. Their dissensions
at our appearance. A sovereign doos not rest in greater safety in the
midst of his guards, than we do, surrounded hy our savages. It is
among them that I will go and end my days."

I followed the advice of my friend Molinari, and
caused myself to be removed from the school, which a
little while afterwards was completely broken up. The
system of instruction there was miserably defective.
Molinari was, as I have stated, the only person who
understood Greek; and Caperon, though an Oriental
scholar, was not acquainted with the language. Some
attention was paid to composition; a Pere Henri,
(a gaunt looking man, who used to sit for hours twist-
ing two crumbs of bread between his forefinger and
thumb, and revolving a sonnet to some favourite saint),
took the trouble to teach me how to write French
rhymes. There was also some relish manifested for
the beauties of the Latin writers, and pains were taken
to make the scholars feel the strength of the expression.
But arithmetic, geography, history, were all neglected.
A worse course of education cannot be well imagined,
though these Peres de la Foi conceived themselves to be
greatly superior to the professors in either of tlio
English Universities.

I left Kensington House for the great scat of British
Jesuitism in the north of England. On arriving at
Manchester in the mail, I proceeded in a post-chaise to
Blackburn, and drove from thence to the school
which has since awakened the eloquence of Leslie
Foster, and the orthodox terrors of Sir Thomas Leth-
bridge. Through a long avenue, in the old fashion of
English pomp, and which was bordered by ponds of
broad deep water on either side, the horses carried me

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 279

rapidly towards two huge towers, which rose to a great
elevation out of a magnificent building of Elizabethan'
architecture. Before I had time to survey this fine
and venerable structure with minuteness, and to
observe its windows of massive stone-work, and to
rest upon the groves of old yew trees that rose about
the decaying walls of its gardens, the horses' feet
clattered under the archway, and I was rolled into an
old quadrangular court, that seemed to belong to the
castle of a feudal baron, and not to the society of
useful and meritorious votaries of Loyola, whom I
shall describe in a continuation of this article.

281

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS.
STONYHURST.

[OCTOBEE, 1829.]

THE College of Stonyhurst is situated in Lancashire,
at the foot of the high hill of Pendle, which, as it was
formerly the favourite resort of sorcerers, has, in the
opinion of a neighbouring parson, afforded, by a natural
succession, a residence to the mysterious ecclesiastics
who are adepts in the witchcraft of Ignatius. The
scenery by which it is surrounded is of a solemn and
almost dreary character. Immediately before the great
entrance, which opens into a considerable square, and
is surmounted by two very lofty towers, an avenue, in
the old English fashion, rises between two large basins
of artificial water, whose stagnant tranquillity gives to
the approach a dismal aspect. This avenue leads, on
the right-hand, to a very extensive deer-park, the neg-
lected walls of which indicate that the spirit of the
chase has long since departed from the spot where learn-
ing and religion have fixed their abode.

A rookery spreads behind the castle (for such it may

282 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

be justly designated), of ancient and venerable trees.
The remains of a noble garden occupy the front; and
although its terraces are now dilapidated, and the play-
ground which is used by the students has usurped upon
its fine parterres, a noble walk of thickly-interwoven
yew-trees, which is called the Wilderness, has been
spared, and still offers the memorials of magnificence
in its long and melancholy vistas. It was originally
intended that the building should consist of two wings;
only one, however, was completed, as the expense ex-
ceeded the fortune of the projector. The portion of
the edifice which is finished, is of great extent. It is
of a gothic character, in the exterior; but its apart-
ments, and especially the splendid hall, which is flagged
with white and polished marble, are of far greater
dimensions than the rooms which are generally found
in buildings of a similar style.

As you look from the great central window of mas-
sive stone, you see the ridge of Pendle stretched out in
a long line of black and dismal barrenness. The rivers
Hodder and Kibble, whose banks are lined with fine
woods, flow in the valley beneath. The town of Cli-
theroe is seen on the left, where the plains of Yorkshire
present a rich contrast of cultivation in their wide and
distant reaches. Bipchester lies on the right; and
behind, a line of heathy j hills, called Longridge Fell,
extends itself for several miles. This fine old mansion
was the property of the Sherbourne family, and was
afterwards occupied for a period by one of the Dukes
of Norfolk. It came by purchase into the hands of the
late Mr. Weld, of Lulworth Castle. He had been edu-
cated at St. Omer's, among the Jesuits ; and after they
had been successively obliged to fly from their seminary

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 283

there, and from Bruges and Liege, they were received
by their old pupil at Stonyhurst. During his life they
held the house itself free from all charges, paying a
moderate rent for a considerable tract of ground ; and
on his death, (he had first become an ecclesiastic,
though he had a very large family,) he devised the lands
to that sacred corporation, to which he was indebted for
his instruction in piety, and for which, as a religionist,
he had always entertained a warm predilection. His
obsequies were performed with great pomp in the col-
lege chapel, and a funeral oration was pronounced upon
his merits, amongst which his bequest to the followers
of Loyola was not the least conspicuous.

When I arrived at Stonyhurst College, the principals,
and the more eminent teachers, were gentlemen who
had held similar situations in the Jesuit establishment
at Liege. After they had settled in Lancashire, there
were some new recruits added to their numbers ; but
generally speaking, the members of the Society had
been educated out of England, according to the system
adopted in the institutions under the management of
that literary order. They were about twenty-five in
number, and were, in every respect, superior to the
Peres de la Foi, with whom I had sojourned at Kensing-
ton, and who merely passed as Jesuits. They were
almost all gentlemen by birth, some of them belonging
to the best Catholic families in England. Their man-
ners were also distinguished by an urbanity, which it is
one of the maxims of their order that they should assi-
duously cultivate, and which their love of elegant
literature had tended to heighten.

There were, of course, a few amongst them who were
a little uncouth, but these were chiefly persons who had

284 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

been enrolled in the body since its establishment in
Lancashire. Those who had been brought up at St.
Omer or at Liege, were greatly superior in address to
the generality of persons to whom the education of boys
is confided. Of the Jesuits whom I found at Stony-
hurst, by far the greater number had become members
of the Society of Jesus from motives which were
entirely free from all mercenary consideration. They
were, as far as I could form a judgment of them,
actuated by a sincere piety, and a deep conviction of
the truths of their religion, and a zealous solicitude for
the welfare of others, which they conceived that they
should best promote by dedicating themselves to the
education of youth.

At the head of the college was the Rector of the
English province, the Rev. Dr. Stone. He was a
man, whom neither his long vigils, nor his habits of
abstinence, could reduce into the meagritude of sanc-
tity; and by his portly belly and his rosy counte-
nance, he seemed to bid defiance to the power of fast-
ing, and to the devotion of prayer. Nothing could
subdue his goodly corpulency, or invest his features
with the emaciation which ordinarily attends the habits
of mortification and of self-denial which he practised.
He was the most uninterruptedly devout person I have
ever seen, and verified those descriptions of lofty holi-
ness with which the writings of Alban Butler (the uncle
of the celebrated conveyancer) had rendered me fami-
liar.* The students were accustomed to the perusal of
the Lives of the Saints, and found in Dr. Stone (except

* The piratical editor of these papers, in a notice of the works of Mr.
Charles Butler, informs the American public that he was the author of
the Lives of the Saint* I

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 285

in his external configuration, in which Guido would cer-
tainly not have selected a model,) a realization of those
pictures of exalted piety which occur in the pages of
that learned compiler. He seemed to be in a perpetual
commerce with heaven ; for even in his ordinary occu-
pations, at his meals, or while he took the exercise
necessary for the purposes of health, his eyes were
constantly raised, and ejaculations broke from his
lips. At first view, one might have taken him for an
enacter of piety ; and, indeed, his swelling cheeks, and
the abdominal rotundity of his person, gave him an ex-
ceedingly sublunary aspect ; but, after a little while, it
was difficult not to feel convinced that his enthusiasm
was unaffected, and that his whole heart was devoted,
in the spirit of the most exalted Christianity, to God.

The reader will think it strange that such a person
should have been entrusted with the direction of so
great an establishment as this extensive college, the
conduct of whose finances would alone have been
sufficient to engross the mind, and would have been
so utterly alien to the spiritual addictions of Dr. Stone.
The Jesuits, however, were too shrewd to leave their
money to the care of a person who spent so little of his
time in this world. The care of their souls was, by a
just division of labour, committed to this great master
of spirituality ; but they did not molest him with any
pecuniary considerations; these fell to the exclusive
province of the Rev. Father "Wright, a brother of the
Catholic banker in Henrietta-street, of that name.

Father Wright would have excelled in the counting-
house of the first trafficker in money in the metropolis ;
but from some strange intermixture of the habits of
devotion with the tendencies to thrift, he became a

286 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

priest, and entered the society of Jesus. His associates
were not slow in discovering those propensities, which
it is their study not to extinguish, but to direct ; and,
bringing nature and devotion into alliance, made him
purse-bearer to the college. Father Wright had no
solicitude for gain upon his own account, but, for the
benefit of the order, was in perpetual pursuit of it.
He managed the farm, regulated the whole domestic
economy, and laid out the grounds of the society. He
was a sharp, hawk-eyed, bustling little man, with an
aspect of rapacious shrewdness, and that intensity of
look, in which the eagerness for the acquisition of
money is combined with the prudence which is
necessary to retain it. He was much more profoundly
versed in Cocker than in Suarez, and far fonder of
consulting his ledger than of unlocking the brass clasps
of his breviary. He was of infinite service to the
establishment, by restraining every disposition to
expense, and by the regular system of economy to
which he undeviatingly adhered.

In one grand speculation, however, he was com-
pletely foiled, to his own great mortification, and that
of his associates. There was a sum of 16,000/. in the
hands of Father Beattie, the last of the Irish Jesuits
who had survived the abolition of the order. This sum
had been bequeathed to the old priest by a Father
Callaghan, who held it himself in trust, and left it for
the purpose of having a Jesuit college built in Ireland.
"Wright, the English Jesuit, suggested that Ireland
ought to be annexed to the English province, and that
the money should be sent to Stonyhurst ; and accord-
ingly he put every expedient into practice in order to
prevail on Father Beattie to apply the sacred treasure

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 287

to the extension of Stonyhurst. Beattie, however, who
hated everything English, resisted. Wright applied to
the General of the Jesuits in order to effect his pur-
pose ; but the Irish Jesuit countermined his Anglican
brother, and, in place of swelling the coffers of Stony-
hurst, the fund was laid out in the purchase of an
estate in Ireland, and in the establishment of the
College of Clongowes.

I have stated that there was a minute allocation of
different pursuits, according to their respective talents,
to the members of the fraternity. The selection of
Father Wright to preside over the finances, was not
more appropriate than the choice of the remarkable
individual who was at the head of what was called the
Novitiate. About two miles from the college there
stood upon a hill, on the banks of the river Hodder, a
small house, which was dedicated to the residence of
the young men who, desiring to become Jesuits, were,
according to the rules of the company, obliged to go
through a probation, of two years in continued medi-
tation and prayer. During that space of time, a can-
didate for admission to the society must remain
entirely secluded from the world, and occupied exclu-
sively in the work of religious perfection. The novices
are not allowed to read out of any profane book more
than ten lines a day. The college itself was considered
to be too worldly and full of turmoil for such a process
of complete purification; and in order that their
sequestration might be more complete, a little edifice
was raised upon a slight elevation which overhung the
river Hodder. Here no other sound but the murmurs
of the stream as it gurgled over its pebbly bed through
the deep groves that hung on either side of it, were

288 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

heard by the votaries of silence and of solitude, who
were embowered in this beautiful abode.

How often have I paused to look upon it, in [the
walks which we were occasionally allowed to take in the
vicinity of this pious and lonely spot ! On the opposite
side of the river was a wood, in which we used to go
either to gather nuts or to hunt squirrels. Many a
time I have left the pastimes in which my companions
were engaged, and, descending to the banks of the
stream, have fixed my eyes upon "the Novitiate"
upon the other side ; and as I heard the voices of its
inmates rising in their evening hymn through the
trees which surrounded it, I have felt myself thrilled
with all those sensations which belong to the elevation
of piety, and what the profane would designate as the
romance of religion. In this probationary hermitage
the novices were secluded, and over them there presided
a man the most remarkable for what I may call the
chivalry of Jesuitism whom I have ever seen.

Father Plowden was the younger brother of a very
ancient Catholic family, and was, I believe, descended
from the great lawyer of that name. He had been
originally educated in Rome, and was from thence,
after spending many years in Italy, transferred to
St. Diner's. He was a perfect Jesuit of the old
school : his mind was stored with classical knowledge ;
his manners were highly polished; he had great
eloquence, which was alternately vehement and persua-
sive, as the occasion put his talents into requisition;
and with his various accomplishments he combined the
loftiest enthusiasm for the advancement of religion,
and an utter immolation of himself to the glory of the
order, of which he was unquestionably a great ornament.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 289

Though greatly advanced in years, he stood erect and
tall, with all the evidences of strong and inextinguish-
able vitality about him. His cheek, though worn, had
the hues of health upon it ; and though his head was
quite bald, the vivacity of his eyes, that shot their
light from beneath their broad and shaggy brows,
exhibited a mind whose faculties it did not seem to be
in the power of time to impair.

His powers as a preacher were of a very high class.
Students at a public school listen to religious instruction
as if it were only a part of the mere routine of their
ordinary occupations. When, however, Mr. Plowden
ascended the pulpit, every eye and every ear were
fixed in attention. His command of lofty diction;
his zealous and forcible delivery ; the noble port which
he assumed as the herald of intelligence from heaven ;
and, more than anything else, the profound conviction
which he manifestly entertained of the truth of the
doctrines which he interpreted, and the strenuousness
of his adjuration in calling men's hearts to God, gave
him every title to be considered an orator of the first
class. Certainly, the belief that he was altogether
devoted to the spiritual welfare of those whom Provi-
dence had, in his opinion, assigned to his tutelage,
greatly enhanced the impressiveness of his exhorta-
tions. He was looked upon as a model of exalted
virtue.

It was not to the college of Stonyhurst that he
confined his labours ; he was also busy in the conversion
of the population in the vicinity. It not unfrequently
happened that he was informed, in the midst of a
winter's night, that some person at a considerable
distance from the college was on the point of death,

VOL. II. u

290 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

and stood in need of his spiritual aid, The old man,
who did not seem to know what hardship was, would
leap from his hard bed, and having hurried on his
clothes, he would go forth with a lantern, attended by
a lay-brother of the order, and, making his way over
the fens and morasses by which the college was sur-
rounded, hasten to the door of the expiring sinner,
and arrive at his bed-side in time, as he conceived, to
speed his soul to heaven.

This truly zealous and exalted Christian was the
President of the Novitiate ; and certainly no man
could be better calculated to infuse into the minds of
others that heroical self-abnegation, and that surrender
of all the passions to the advancement of the society,
which constitute the perfection of a Jesuit. If he could
have contributed to the saving of the soul of a sinner,
or to the promotion of the glory of St. Ignatius, by
laying his head upon the block, he would, I am sure,
have knelt down to it at the warning of an instant, and
cried " strike ! " Yet with all this extraordinary energy
of zeal, and though he carried his enthusiasm to the
highest point to which it could reach, he was, notwith-
standing, wholly free from those weaknesses and
credulities which are sometimes found in minds deeply
imbued with religious feeling. He was a firm believer
in the tenets of his church; but he did not himself
practise, nor did he encourage in others, those usages
which, in truth, do not belong to the general plan of
Catholicity, but have grown out of individual fantasy,
and ought not, in fairness, to be regarded as component
parts of the general system.

It is but doing justice to the Stony hurst Jesuits to
say, that they were by no means given to the inculcation

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 291

of those opinions, or to the observance of those forms,
which have chiefly contributed to create a disrelish for
the Roman Catholic religion amongst persons who
dissent from its doctrines. I must, however, note one
exception. The Reverend Father Reeves, who was at
the head of an institution called the Sodality (I have
made some mention of a similar body in my account of
the Peres de la Foi, given in a former number), was as
strange a specimen of exiguous eccentricity as I
remember to have seen. The Sodality itself was a
curious instance of the mechanism by which the
Jesuits contrived to keep perfect order in their schools.
It consisted of the majority of the boys, who voluntarily
enrolled themselves in a corporation, which was insti-
tuted in honour of the Blessed Virgin. The students
who belonged to this society were compelled to select a
certain number of individuals from among themselves,
who were called admonitors, and who bound themselves
to disclose to the heads of the school every malpractice
which should fall under their cognizance.

They were in fact, a set of tell-tales, to whom no
degradation attached, because they were elected to the
office by the very persons whose conduct it was their
duty to superintend. Thus their functions were not
dishonourable, although the habit which they engen-
dered was not, perhaps, very useful. Reynolds, (the
celebrated Irish Jaffier) was brought up at Liege, and
was eminent for his skill in detecting, and his fidelity
in disclosing, the offences of his fellow students. In
the Sodality (I have parenthetically described its main
object), a number of rites were introduced which
might, in my judgment, have been quite as well

u 2

292 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

omitted. The little gentleman, of whom I have above
made mention, was the director of this Sodality ; and
by his fanaticism contributed not unfrequently to throw
a burlesque upon it.

His favourite tenet was, that England was "the
dower of the Blessed Virgin/' and had been assigned to
her by a peculiar gift from Heaven. Accordingly, in
his spiritual exhortations, he never called England by
any other name than " Dos Mariae." Every sentence
was concluded with this strange appellation, to the
utterance of which he gave, by his shrill and almost
infantine intonations, accompanied by his wild but
pigmy gestures, and the contortions of a withered
countenance, a great peculiarity of ridicule. He used
to fall into paroxysms of prophecy in the pulpit, when
he announced that England would be speedily con-
verted, that the Virgin would be restored to her rights,
and that she would be reinstated in the plenitude of
possession in " dos Marise." These homilies of the
poor man created nothing but merriment among the
students, and pity among his brethren ; but they were
loth to deprive him of his office, as it was his only
enjoyment, and he had filled it for several years.

Many jokes were practised upon him. He had in
his possession some handfuls of flour, which he declared,
and verily believed, had been consecrated by St. Aloy-
sius Gonzaga, and which he regarded as a sovereign
specific for all maladies. Those who were fond of
waggery would call at his chamber with a very devout
aspect, and beg a little of this flour, which he would
give with many encomiums upon its virtues. It was then
contrived to have it replaced, and Father Reeves would

BECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 293

exultingly exclaim, that it had all the properties of the
oil in the widow's cruse in the Scriptures, and was
incapable of sustaining a diminution.

But if Father Reeves created mirth at his expense,
he had dreadful opportunities, during what was called
"the Retreat," of retaliating upon the laughers, by
depriving them of all use of the organs of risibility, and
putting the muscles of yawning into exclusive use.
" The Retreat " is a period of annual seclusion, which
lasts about seven days, during which the students are
forbidden to speak even at their meals, and are com-
pelled to expend the time in religious contemplation.
In all Jesuit colleges, some days in every year are
appropriated to the holy sequestration from which it
derives its name. To persons living in the world, it
might be of considerable use to retire for a limited
period from its pursuits ; but I question whether it does
schoolboys (who have, at a Jesuit school at least, an
abundance of daily prayer) any very substantial or
permanent good.

The minds of even the most pious and seraphic can
scarcely sustain themselves for such a continuance upon
the wing in the loftier and more rarified regions of
devotion. It must, therefore, have been no very easy
task for boys of fourteen or fifteen years not to alight
for repose upon more sublunary objects. However,
everything that could be devised in the way of external
form was resorted to for the purpose of giving impres-
siveness to the observances of this dismal week. Ad-
joining the great dormitory, there was a large apartment
situated immediately beneath the two great towers.
Here a small altar, with a single lamp burning upon it,

294 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

was placed ; all other light was excluded. The students
assembled in this spot ; and, in the midst of the pro-
found silence which was maintained, it Avas in winter a
mournful thing to listen to the wind that moaned
round the towers that hung over us, and swept through
the long and darkened windows. An hour of taciturn
meditation was first ordained. This was followed by a
sermon. Father Beeves appeared at the altar, dressed
in the robes of his order, which, however, made him
look more pragmatical than dignified. The lamp that
played upon his features brought them out, and gave
him, by its lucid light, the aspect of an old woman,
who believed herself for a century to have been dealing
with the devil. A strong preacher might have pro-
duced some exciting effect under such circumstances;
but Father Reeves, both in the selection of his subjects,
and in the manner of treating them, inflicted upon us
a tedium which superseded all necessity of penance.

His favourite topic was the overthrow of the fallen
angels. He described the whole campaign in heaven,
in which Lucifer had been worsted by the archangel,
with a minuteness of celestial strategy, which I shall
not cease to remember. His favourite text was " quasi
rudentibus detracti." The pulling down of Satan with
a rope from heaven was the subject of many and many
a description, which, in elaborate particularity of inci-
dent, it would be difficult to surpass.* I must acquit
the other Jesuits, however, of any participation in these

* Father Reeve's style of preaching seems to have been that which was
called the " circumstantial," and was 60 admirably ridiculed in the curious
Spanish romance of Friar Gerund, the principal design of which was to
expose and explode the absurdities prevailing at the time in the Spanish
pulpit.

RECOLLECTIONS OP THE JESUITS. 295

follies. They were generally men of good understand-
ing, who combined with a well-regulated zeal for religion,
sound common-sense.

There were about one hundred and fifty boys in the
college, who were divided into six classes. Each class
had a separate master, who at the termination of a year
became the head of the next class, into which all the
students under his superintendence were transferred;
so that in general the same instructor for six years
carried on the same boys through their successive gra-
dations of tuition. This plan is the more deserving of
remark, because it prevailed through all the Jesuit
schools upon the Continent. The lowest class was
called the Abecedarians, from their being initiated into
the elements of knowledge ; the next was called Figures,
and afterwards came the classes of grammar, syntax,
poetry, and rhetoric. It is obvious that much of a
boy's acquirements, and a good deal of the character of
his taste, must have depended upon the individual to
whose instructions he was thus almost exclusively
confined.

It was my good fortune to be placed at first in the
class of the Ueverend Father Laurenson, who was an
excellent Latin scholar, and had besides a strong relish
for English composition. He was an excellent man,
with an exceedingly good heart, with generous and
honourable feelings, and entirely free from that supple-
ness which has been attributed, but in my mind erro-
neously, to the body to which he belonged. The Jesuits
who were employed in courts to influence the minds of
ministers, and to sway the decision of cabinets, might
have been addicted to habits of duplicity, which are
almost inseparable from such pursuits; but in their

296 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

colleges, I apprehend, that they were little more than
ardent instructors in classical learning; and, as far as
my experience goes, I can aver that I never observed
the least tendency upon their part to inculcate any doc-
trine, or to hold up any personal example, of that false
dexterity which has been so long regarded as their
attribute.

The Rev. Mr. Laurenson was a personification of
greatness. He was a great gaunt man, with a deep
sonorous voice, and a countenance in which it was easy
to discover his vigorous intellect, his open and manly
nature, and an irascibility which, with all his efforts,
and with the discipline of Loyola, he found it impos-
to conquer. Father Laurenson was obliged, from, I
believe, ill-health, to give up the class; and was suc-
ceeded by a gentleman who is at present at the head of
the college, the Rev. Mr. Brooks. He lately attracted
some notice in Rome, having attended as deputy from
the English province for the election of a general of the
society, upon the death of Aloysius Fortis, and having
travelled in his own carriage, which excited the com-
ments of his Continental brethren, who thought that a
Jesuit might travel in his neighbour's carriage, but
was forbidden by his vow of poverty from lolling in
his own.

If, however, they attributed the selection of this
conveyance to any spirit of ostentation in the English
deputy, they mistook Mr. Brooks. He was, when he
became the teacher of the class to which I belonged, a
young man of manners which were pushed, perhaps, to
the utmost limit of refinement. His taste in literature
was highly cultivated, and his mind was full of
examples from the best authors, and of precepts from

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 297

the best ancient and modern critics. He took exceed-
ingly great pains in exciting an admiration for the
beauties of the classical writers which it was his office
to explain; and in rendering them into English, he
enforced the necessity of preserving the strength and
the colour of the Greek or the Latin phrase. To
English composition he insisted that particular atten-
tion should be paid. He was also an excellent teacher
of recitation. He had studied it, together with
another Jesuit, Mr. Darrel (one of the old Catholic
family of that name in Kent) ;* and both had made
themselves complete masters of the principles on which
it depends.

There were two books which they had in perpetual
use, one was Walker's Elocution, and another (it is not
much known, though it contains excellent matter)
called Cheironomia, written by the E-ev. Mr. Austin, a
brother-in-law of the Irish Chief Justice.f Nothing
can be more barbarous than the intonations with which
most boys, after they leave school, either read or speak.
In Ireland the system of recitation is detestable. At
Stonyhurst, if a few important branches of education
were not so much attended to as they ought to have
been, a neglect of this useful and pleasurable accom-
plishment was not among their faults. The passion
which prevailed at this school for recitation soon
extended itself to acting. A private theatre was built,
at the expense of the students, under the super-
intendence of the masters. There were also exhibitions
called " Academics," where the boys were examined in
Greek and Latin, and recited their own verses before a

* A Catholic gentleman of that name is mentioned as having taken
part in the Penenden Heath Meeting, the subject of a previous paper,
f Chief Justice Bushe.

298 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

great concourse of people, who assembled from the
neighbourhood. These shows tended greatly to excite
emulation and that love of distinction which the
Jesuits had a particular faculty in creating.

A number of ladies used, at one period, to attend
these spectacles. However, the Jesuits thought it
prudent to dispense with their attendance, as one of
them, a young woman who lived near Preston, fell
desperately in love with the late Mr. Gerald Bagot, of
Castle Bagot, who had a person and countenance
endowed with many captivating qualities. The lady
became deeply enamoured with him at first sight.
There were rumours of her having used various
ingenious means to convey to him an intimation of
her passion. I do not exactly recollect the particulars
of the catastrophe, but it was of such a nature as
induced the Jesuits to prohibit the attendance of the
gentler sex at their annual exhibitions. This regula-
tion was only an extension of their rule with regard to
women, from the night to the broad day. It is a law
among the Jesuits that no women shall be permitted
to sleep in their colleges. Under no circumstances,
no matter how urgent, was any deviation from an
ordinance so ungallant ever allowed.

The mothers, and, what was far more deserving of
note, the sisters of the students, used occasionally to
come to Stonyhurst to visit them. I remember to
have seen, walking through the play-ground, and
accompanied by their relatives, some of the most
beautiful girls upon whom I have ever looked. The
college was thronged with English Catholics of the
highest class, and I have the warrant of Lord Byron
for saying, that the English Catholic women are
remarkable for a peculiar loveliness, which a certain

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 299

shy superciliousness of bearing tends to set off.
Aurora Raby, of -whom Don Juan became enamoured,
and who is hated by the Lady Adeline, is a Catholic.*
I have seen forms and faces at Stonyhurst, among the
groups of visitors, from which the great poet might
have selected his model of a Popish belle of the old
idolatrous aristocracy of England, and who would
themselves have justified in their own persons, "the
invocation of saints."

The Jesuits always received their guests with a
splendid and cordial hospitality. After dinner, how-
ever, scenes of amusing embarrassment would some-
times occur. Preston was at the distance of fifteen
miles ; the road ran through a wild and unfrequented
country, and to return there at a late hour of the night
was exceedingly inconvenient. A remote intimation
would at first be given that beds would be acceptable*
and then the ear of Doctor Stone was deaf to the
insinuation ; what was at first but a suggestion, grew
into a broad hint, and at length strengthened itself
into a direct request. The Doctor would then state,
with all the politeness with which it was possible that a
negative to a lady could be enveloped, that Saint
Ignatius had, in founding the order, laid it down as a
fundamental maxim, that none of the daughters of Eve
should sleep within the gates of the society ; and in

* " She was a Catholic, too, sincere, austere,
As far as her own gentle heart allowed,
And deemed that fallen worship far more dear,
Perhaps because 'twas fallen : her sires were proud
Of deeds and days, when they had fill'd the ears
Of nations, and had never bent or bowM
To rival power : and as she was the last,
She held their old faith and their feelings fast."

300 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

order to mitigate the apparent violation of courtesy, he
would add, with a pious ejaculation, " Lead us not into
temptation !"

To this anouncement it was impossible to make any
opposition. The carriage was ordered. Bonnets were
tightly tied about throats, which it was indeed perilous
to look on tippets of the warmest fur were drawn
over bosoms whose undulations would have shaken the
vows of Saint Senanus.* The party left the great
refectory, and proceeded through the long and dreary
passages of the old castle, attended by a band of
Jesuits to the great entrance, where the carriage which
was to convey them to Preston was drawn up. Here
the resolution of the ladies would fail them. The
darkness of the night, the keenness of the biting air,
the gusts of wind that would come sweeping from the
dreariness that surrounded the college, would render a
journey to Preston a serious undertaking. Here the
party would stand dismayed ; and, after a pause, voices
that, like music, sound sweetest by night, would again
renew their intimations, that for once the ordinances
of Ignatius might be violated, and that, after all, no
great risk would be incurred by a little extension of
the splendour of the Jesuit board to the brief lodging
of a night.

It was, however, in vain, that to the venerable rector
of the English Province these adjurations were ad-

* " Haste and leave this sacred isle,
Unholy hark, ere morning smile,
For on thy deck, though dark it be,

A female form I see j
And I have sworn, this sainted sod
Shall ne'er by woman's foot be trod."

Irish Melodies.

BECOLLECTIOXS OF THE JESUITS. 301

dressed. Some of the younger members of the Order,
who stood with torches beside him, might have relented,
but the Doctor was immovable. He still preserved that
gentlemanlike demeanour, which is, with a Jesuit,
equivalent to a precept of religion ; but he was not to
be stirred from his purpose. Though the thunder
should roll, and shake the old castle to its foundation,
and the lightning should show the loveliest faces pale
with dismay by its nearest and broadest flashings, still
the Jesuit was never surprised into a breach of the
anti-chivalrous canons of his order. He would bow the
ladies into their carriages with a relentless perseverance;
and in the midst of hail and storm, would command
the gates to be closed, while the postboys cracked their
whips and put spurs to their horses, and the wheels that
rattled over the pavement of the old avenue announced,
as they rolled away, the victory which the disciple of
Loyola had gained over human nature, by his insen-
sibility to charms, which if the Devil had copied when
he tempted St. Anthony in the shape of a woman, the
recluse would have succumbed.

Perhaps the rigorous rules adopted by the Jesuits, in
order to render themselves impregnable in their vows
of continence, or to secure themselves from all impeach-
ment of their morality, may be regarded with some
justice as carried to an extremity of precaution. Still
the alacrity with which accusations against religious
confraternities are preferred, and the readiness with
which they are received, justiiy to a great extent, the
severe discipline, which has had the effect, not only of
preserving the virtue, but what is really equivalent, the
moral character of the Society of Jesus.

Robertson who was by no means favourable to the

302 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Order, observes, that while other communities degene-
rated into licentiousness, the Jesuits always sustained
a high reputation for personal good conduct. His
commendation is peculiarly applicable to the College of
Stonyhurst. Vice had no residence within its walls.
I do not recollect having either remarked or heard of
the least deviation from propriety among the members
of the Society. One reverend gentleman, who was not
however, a Jesuit, but proposed to become one, was
slightly addicted to the pleasures of the table ; and lest
his love of conviviality should grow into an excess,
although he was a man of considerable abilities, he
was informed that his tendencies were not in conformity
with the discipline of Ignatius, and was politely required
to leave the college. The Jesuits omitted no effort to
introduce amongst the students that regard for pro-
priety which prevailed amongst themselves. The pas-
sages in the ancient writers, which were tinctured with
any indelicacy of phrase, were omitted in editions ex-
pressly designed by the Jesuits for their schools, and
which had been chiefly published by Juvencius.

The boys were under a perpetual vigilance. From
the school-room, the dinner-room, and the play-ground,
the superintendents of the establishment, who performed
the office of sentinels, were never absent. Besides these
functionaries, there were also the admonitors, selected
by the boys themselves for the purpose of keeping
watch over their conduct. The result of these expe-
dients was a propriety in the demeanour of the students
which it would be difficult to surpass. Blasphemy and
indecency of expression were wholly unknown, and I
think that I may state, with perfect truth, that, during
the whole time I continued in the college, I never heard

BECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 303

a syllable at which the modesty of a girl could have
been startled.

It must be confessed, that many of the young men
who were educated at Stonyhurst, did not afterwards
exhibit the evidences of that strict morality in which
they had been educated. Certain English Roman
Catholics of fortune, on leaving the college threw them-
selves so headlong into indulgence, that they attracted
attention even in London, by the sudden and splashing
plunge which they took into pleasure. But it is not
from a few individuals that the merits of a general
system are to be tried ; and it must also be remem-
bered, that English Catholics of great opulence and of
high rank found themselves, on entering the world,
destitute of all political pursuit. The want of legitimate
occupation to men, to whom the law denied it, and who
were above a profession, was of necessity an incentive to
dissipation. But, in truth, it is only in a very few
instances that Stonyhurstians have deviated from the
habits which were inculcated by their Jesuit instructors.
If some members of the Four-in-hand Club were pro-
duced by this college, it should be also known that the
generality of the students have furnished an honourable
contrast. The Welds, Gages, Stourtons, Cliffords,
Talbots, were all educated at Stonyhurst, and are emi-
nent for genuine morality and worth.

Take the present Earl of Shrewsbury; where is there
a better man to be found ? It may be thought that he
is too much addicted to polemical disputation ; but let
it not be forgotten, that he has only acted on the defen-
sive, and that when his religion was made an object 01
vilification, he came forward to repel imputations which
were not only levelled at the reasonableness of his

304 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

opinions, but the rights which he has drawn from a
hero in British history with his splendid title. He was
my schoolfellow. I remember him well. John Talbot
was in person a chubby, well-rounded, plump little
Englishman, with a face in which a peculiar mildness
was suffused from eyes of a bright blue colour, over a
face that was moulded in health and softness. He
was somewhat lubberly in his movements, and did not
much relish the more animated exercises of the school.
His pleasure was, during the hours of amusement, to
walk up and down the wall of an old orchard that ran
along the playground, with one of the Jesuits, or with
some of the more grave of his companions, and to talk
over the literary occupations in which he had been
engaged.

There was no fagging system at Stonyhurst ; and the
absence of all superiority of manner in the young
Catholic nobility, and especially in the future Earl of
Shrewsbury, afforded a proof that it is not necessary for
the purposes of reducing young patricians to the useful
level of equality which prevails at our public schools.
The Jesuits took care to make no distinctions between
the children of tradesmen and the descendants of the
oldest aristocracy in the island. John Talbot was unaf-
fectedly modest in his bearing. He did not seem in
the least to value himself upon his superior rank, but
appeared to aim at superiority by his literary qualifica-
tions. He was extremely diligent, and had a high
reputation for ability. Since he has left the college,
he has, in the midst of immense wealth, and on the
summit of society, continued to seek distinction by his
learning and his talents. The book which he has pub-
lished is fraught with the true tenets of liberty, and

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 305

with proofs of his capacity to assert them. The doors
of the Senate are now thrown upon to him, and great
opportunities will speedily arise, of which I make no
doubt that he will avail himself, of proving, from that
seat in the House of Lords, which was won by his
illustrious ancestor, and with which so much glory is
associated, that a Catholic legislator can be the foe to
corrupt abuses, the champion of religious toleration,
and a supporter of that constitution, of which he will
furnish evidence that no violation was perpetrated, in
the admission to its full privileges of a man who will
employ his high rank, and the splendid occasions which
it will afford him, to sustain the best institutions, by
upholding the freedom of his country.

There were at Stonyhurst, as I have mentioned, a
great number of English Catholics of the highest rank.
The number of Irish boys was about half that of the
English. They were generally greatly inferior in station,
though many of them were the children of the best
Catholic gentry in Ireland. There existed among the
natives of the two countries a strong rivalry, which was
occasionally wrought up to animosity. The favourite
game at the school was a very violent one, called foot-
ball. The Irish were marshalled on one side of a large
field, and the English on the other. "When they became
heated, the boys showed a spirit of antipathy, which
reminded one of the feuds of the two nations. In
general, the English were successful, because they
showed more prudence and self-control. The Irish
were so precipitate and headlong as constantly to miss
the victory when they were on the point of gaining it.
The same emulation ran into their school exercises.
Wherever attention and assiduity were required, the

VOL. II. X

306 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

English were generally superior; but in matters of
display the Irish went far beyond them. This was
particularly observable in their declamation, in which
the Irish were unquestionably far more accomplished.

The Jesuits themselves were all Englishmen, and I
think that they occasionally exhibited that contempt
for Ireland, which is exceedingly observable among the
English Catholics who have not mixed much in the
world. I should not have adverted to this prejudice,
had it not greatly contributed to the production of an
event, to which some importance has been attached ; I
allude to the establishment of the College of Clongowes.

I have already mentioned that Doctor Beattie, the
old Irish Jesuit, had declined to transfer the fund
belonging to his province to Stonyhurst. It was, how-
ever, arranged that a certain number of young Irish-
men should be sent to Stonyhurst, to be educated for
the Order, and that the expense of their instruction
should be defrayed by the Irish treasury. Accordingly,
several young men came over, with Doctor Kenny, the
present president of Stonyhurst, at their head. They
were treated, as they themselves alleged, in a very
cold, supercilious, and English fashion. Much discon-
tent prevailed amongst them, and in consequence of
their complaints, the General of the Order gave direc-
tions that they should be despatched to Sicily for the
purpose of completing their education at the Jesuit
College of Palermo. They were accordingly shipped
off. This separation completed the breach with the
Irish province. Had the embryo Jesuits, who were
transmitted from Ireland, been more cordially received,
an ultimate junction of both funds might have been
accomplished. The Hiberno- Sicilians, however, on

RECOLLECTIONS OP THE JESUITS. 307

their return from Palermo, exhibited an alienation, in
which nationality, coupled with their reminiscences,
had some share ; and rejecting all co-operation with the
English Jesuits, founded the College of Clongowes.

On its first establishment, Mr. Peel, who was then
Secretary for Ireland, urged on, I presume, by the
alarmists by whom he was surrounded, and who were
once in possession of his confidence, appeared to take
fright, and sent for Doctor Kenny, to interrogate him.
The latter attended, having, it is said, first obtained
some judicious suggestions from Mr. Scully, the author
of the celebrated book on the Penal Code.* The secre-
tary was completely foiled by the priest ; the College of
Clongowes was founded; and the preposterous act of
parliament which has been recently introduced, in order,
I presume, to reconcile the people of England to the
extension of the principle of religious toleration, will
prove as inefficient in arresting its progress, as the per-
sonal interrogatories administered by Mr. Peel, in the
prevention of its establishment.

The Act requiring the registry of every Jesuit, and
prohibiting the increase of the Order, is utterly nuga-
tory. A Jesuit is not admitted into the Society with
any of the "pomp, pride, and glorious circumstance" of
the Church. They prudently avoided, at Stonyhurst,
the performance of such spectacles as take place upon
the taking of the veil. After the noviceship was con-
cluded, the head of the College, who was also rector of
the province, administered the oaths of religious inaugu-
ration, in a small chapel, from which strangers were
excluded. It was not ever accurately known what

* See the paper on Catholic Leaders and Associations.

x 2

308 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

persons had been initiated into the community. If
this practice was adopted before the recent act of par-
liament, it is not likely that the habits of secrecy, which
were already in existence, will be laid aside, for the pur-
pose of affording to the Attorney-General an oppor-
tunity of putting into force what the framers of the
abortive act itself intended to let fall still-born from the
womb of legislation, and to become at once a dead-letter
in the law.

I am at a loss to discover any evil to society, and
much more surprised to hear it suggested that any
danger can accrue to the state, from the extension of
a body which is far more a literary, than a political con-
federacy in these countries. In France, indeed, where
there is a large party of men whose personal interest
attaches them to servile habits, it may be justifiable to
use the strongest measures, in order to counteract the
opinions which the French Jesuits are supposed to in-
culcate. But in these free islands, where Liberty is of
long growth, and has struck its roots so deeply into the
public mind, even if the Jesuits were disposed to use
their utmost efforts to eradicate its principles, they
would prove utterly unavailing. The intellect of the
country is too powerful to be subdued by their pro-
verbial dexterities. But the greatest injustice is, in my
judgment, done to the British and Irish Jesuits, by
attributing to them any opinions which are in the least
degree hostile to true liberty. The rule of the order is,
that a Jesuit should entertain and teach no political
tenets which are not in conformity with the institutions
under which he lives. In America, the Jesuits are all
republicans. Two of them lately visited Rome: on

RECOLLECTIONS OP THE JESUITS.

being heard to express some strong democratic senti-
ments, they were reprehended by the General of the
Order; but the Council of Five, to whom they appealed,
and to whom the General himself is responsible, de-
clared, that as the form of government in the United
States was republican, it was the duty of an American
Jesuit to feel as an American citizen; and rescinded
the decision of the Superior.

I should, however, limit myself to the results of my
own personal experience; and I can safely appeal to
every person who has been educated at Stonyhurst,
when I assert, as I most emphatically do, that a base
political sentiment was never made a matter of either
immediate or indirect inculcation. The Jesuits there
were strongly attached to the constitution and liberties
of their country. For the glory of England, notwith-
standing political disqualifications which affected the
Roman Catholics, they felt a deep and enthusiastic
interest : of this I recollect a remarkable instance.

The students were assembled in order to witness
some experiments in galvanism, which a gentleman,
who brought to the college a philosophical apparatus,
had been employed to perform. In the midst of pro-
found attention, a person rushed in, and exclaimed that
Nelson had won a great victory. There was an imme-
diate cheer given by the Jesuits, and echoed by the
boys. Presently a neAvspaper was received, and the
whole college gathered round the reader with avidity ;
and when the details of the battle of Trafalgar were
heard, there were repeated acclamations at almost every
sentence ; and when the narrative had been concluded,
continued shouts for "old England" were sent up, and
every cap was thrown into the air, in celebration of the

310 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

great event, by which the navy of France was annihilated,
and our masterdom of the ocean was confirmed.
Several days for rejoicing were given to the students,
and a poem, which I then, at least, considered a fine
one, in honour of the battle, was composed by one of
the Jesuits, and admirably recited in the great hall,
which was appropriated to such exhibitions.

It is time (for this article has run, I perceive, to a
great length), that I should conclude these " Schoolboy
Recollections" of men in whom, with a few blemishes,
there was certainly much to be admired, and, by one
who was educated among them, a great deal to be
gratefully remembered. I found amongst them great
kindness, faithful friendship, a generous and most dis-
interested zeal for the advancement in learning of the
persons whose minds they had in charge ; and to their
purity of life, their sincere piety, and their spirit of
wise toleration, I am only discharging a duty which I
owe to truth, in bearing my warmest attestation.

The general policy of the Order may have been found
injurious to the well-being of states, in which they
acquired an illegitimate ascendency ; their diplomatists
and politicians may have accommodated their morality
with too ready a flexibility to the inclinations of kings
and of women ; they may have placed the confessional
too near the cabinets of the one, and the boudoirs of
the other; but as instructors of youth, when far from
courts, and from a pernicious contact with those vices
which the danger of infection renders it perilous to
cure, they were, I believe, in the main, what my own
personal experience has taught me to consider the
individuals of their Order whom I had any personal
opportunity of observing ; and I confess, that I give my

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE JESUITS. 311

full assent to the sentiments which were expressed in
their regard by Gresset, in the beautiful poem which he
wrote on leaving them for ever, entitled " Adieux aux
Jesuites \"

" Qu'il m'est doux de pouvoir leur rendre un temoignage

Dont 1'interet, la crainte, et Fespoir sont exclus.

A leur sort le mien ne tient plus.
L'impartialite va tracer leur image.

Oui, j'ai vu des mortels, j'en dois ici 1'aveu,

Trop combattus, connus trop pen,
J'ai vu des esprits vrais, des cceurs incorruptibles,

Voues a la patrie, a leurs rois, a leur Dieu,
A leurs propres maux insensibles,

Prodigues de leurs jours, tendres et parfaits amis,
Et souvent bienfaiteurs paisibles

De leurs plus fougueux ennemis :

Trop estimes enfin, pour etre moins hais.
Que d'autres s'exhalent, dans lenrs haine insensee,

En reproches injurieux,

Cherchent en les quittant a les rendre odieux :
Pour moi, fidele au vrai, fidele a ma pensee,

C*e8t ainsi qu'en partant je leur fais mes adieux."

313

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN.

[Nor. 1830.]

" He spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of
fishes."! KIXGS iv. 33.

THE lovers of literature and science in Ireland
have attributed the neglect of all pursuits which are
unconnected with the factions of either politics or
polemics to the agitation of the Catholic Question. I
believe that there is no capital in Europe in which less
regard is paid to eminence of a purely intellectual kind ;
and I attribute this undue appraisement of qualities,
upon which so high an estimate is set elsewhere, to the
higher rate which is set upon those popular endow-
ments, by which a stimulant to the popular passions is
applied. This was a natural consequence of the dis-
cussions, which rendered every other object compara-
tively valueless. The settlement of the great contro-
versy is likely to generate results as favourable to the
promotion of the arts, and to the progress of studies
which have been justly called " humane," from their

314 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

softening influences, as to the establishment of rational
tranquillity and concord. However vitiated the public
palate may have become, it will ultimately acquire a
relish for more simple and more wholesome nutriment,
and as much enjoyment will be derived from the acqui-
sition of knowledge, and from the investigation of the
works of nature, as from the virulent vituperations
and inflammatory harangues, that, during the late
period of excitement, afforded the only materials for
the mind of the people.

These observations have been suggested by the first
attempt which has been made since the adjustment of
Catholic Emancipation to turn the national attention to
pursuits different from those to which it has been fami-
liarized. I allude to a meeting held not long ago at the
Rotunda for the establishment of a Zoological Society,
and which I was induced, by my solicitude for the intro-
duction of new tastes into Ireland, to attend. Some
account of what took place will not, I hope, (in the view
which I have suggested, independently of the nature of
the subject,) be devoid of interest.

I found, upon entering the room, the Duke of Lein-
ster in the chair. That nobleman has an utter aver-
sion to public assemblies of a political kind. This is to
be regretted, because his great station, his opulence,
and, above all, the associations which are connected
with his name, would give him the power of doing in-
calculable good. But an instinct too strong for reason,
and what is to others an unaccountable shyness, has
induced him to sequestrate himself, except upon very
remarkable occasions, from all political meetings. He
does not appear to have the same reluctance to take the
arts and sciences under his auspices; and though he

ZOOLOGY IX DUBLIN. 315

may not love the agitation of those wild scenes, where
the passions blow so strongly, he feels no objection to
walk forth amongst the " groves of the academy" in
search of natore and of truth, where he runs no risk of
encountering those rude guests, by which the robes of
his nobility might be discomposed.

His Grace declared himself to be most anxious for
the formation of a Zoological Society, analogous to
those of Paris and of London, to which he was a contri-
butor. He was seconded by Lord Longford, the brother-
in-law of the Duke of Wellington, and a very strong
politician of the Ascendancy school. It was agreeable
to see him capable of any view of the national good,
which had not the maintenance of lofty Protestanism,
in its exclusiveness, for its foundation. The next speaker
was Mr. Crampton, the Surgeon- General, who was the
chief means of calling the assembly together. The
speech he delivered, in furtherance of the useful object
which he has so much at heart, was one of the most
agreeable and instructive I have ever heard. Although
wholly unpractised in public speaking, Mr. Crampton
addressed the meeting for nearly an hour, in a speech,
of which the pure and polished diction was set off by
a delivery of peculiar facility and grace. It was not
exactly what is called oratory, for there was, of course,
no appeal to vehement emotion, nor any burst of enthu-
siasm; but the even flow of thought, through the
medium of beautifully- decorated language and rich
illustration, is, perhaps, more difficult of attainment
than the more turbid current of rapid emotion, to which
the designation of eloquence is commonly, but not
always appropriately, assigned.

Mr. Crampton is, indeed, one of the most accom-

316 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

plished men in mind and manners whom I have ever
seen. Master of his profession, he has united with its
study all the collateral branches that so intimately
associate it with the investigation of our nature : his
mind is admirably skilful, and as full of resource as his
hand is dexterous and rapid. With these acquirements
he joins a passion for literature and the fine arts,
which diffuse over his whole demeanour a peculiar soft-
ness and urbanity, and enable him, by his gentle and
polished address, to assuage the pains of malady, and to
take from the instruments of his art" one half of their
ordinary torture away. He availed himself of the large
influence he possesses to collect together the splendid
assemblage which had met for the purpose of promoting
an object that, as a lover of science, he held most dear ;
and, although the Duke of Leinster presided, it was
evident that the whole business of the inchoate society
was conducted under his auspices.

His speech bore distinct evidence of his enthusiastic
devotion to the theme upon which he expatiated. Some
extracts from that excellent essay upon the advantages
of such an institution, which he proposed to establish,
will not be considered to be inapposite. I pass over the
introductory matter, which, like every other avenue to
a subject, could not fail to be a little customary. He
proceeded to enlarge upon the advantages which are
likely to ensue from the cultivation of those sciences,
of which experiment and actual proof afford the ground-
work. He said

" In the early part of the last century, the genius of two great men,
operating in different ways, gave an impulse and a direction to the
minds of men, turning them from the pursuit of the impalpable phantom
of metaphysics to the real and solid truths of natural science, laying

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN. 317

open the three great kingdoms of Nature, the simple and solid organiza-
tion of minerals, the wonders of animal instinct, the flowers, the fruits,
and the perfumes of botany. Linnaeus and Buffon names which must
be as durable as the works of Nature, on which they are inscribed were
the men who effected this great revolution ; the one, by his powers of
comprehension and arrangement, drawing forth a fair creation from
chaos ; the other lighting it up by the splendour of his genius. Far be
from us, then, the impertinence of ignorance, which would check the
bold and free career of science on her voyage of discovery, to ask her
whither she is bound, and what freight she has on board. Zoology,
however, has no need to stand on this general defence : the benefits
which have resulted, and which must still result, to mankind from
the cultivation of this delightful department of natural history, are
of a nature so direct and so important, that they have only to be
named to engage your warmest, your most unqualified approbation and
support. If the pleasure derivable from the mere pursuit of natural
knowledge, independently of its application to what are called the uses of
life, were all that is proposed from the study of natural history, it should
be a sufficient motive to engage any rational being, who has leisure, in
the pursuit ; for the enjoyment of intellectual pleasure, and the conse-
quent advancement in knowledge and virtue which grows out of that
enjoyment, is in itself a great good, and is undoubtedly one of the chief
ends of our existence. By the dispensation of a beneficent Creator, we
are so constituted as to derive pleasure from the exercise of all our
faculties, but especially from the exercise of the faculty of observation.
Whatever deeply engages the attention, even though the subject should
not in itself be agreeable, becomes a source of positive pleasure. But
this is not all the exercise of the faculty, by excluding painful impres-
sions, whether of a physical or a moral nature, by weakening the influ-
ence of the imagination and the passions, leaves the mind in that state,
at once vigorous and calm, which fits it for the exercise of the highest
contemplations and the most active virtues. Who is there who has not
felt that buoyancy of spirit, that generous expansion of mind, which
results from the reception of new ideas ? Is there an affliction so heavy,
or bodily pain so great, that has not been lightened or assuaged by
powerfully directing the attention to some object of intellectual interest ?
Natural history is essentially a science of observation ; it is not, like the
other sciences, founded on experiment or calculation ; but by the variety
and beauty of its details, it addresses itself at once to the senses and the
feelings, and is equally accessible and attractive to the peasant and to
the sage. It is, says the illustrious Cuvier, one of the great advantages

318 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

attendant on the study of natural history, that the mind necessarily
acquires the habit of arranging a great number of ideas ; and this habit
once acquired, can be applied with infinite advantage to subjects the
most remote from natural history. Every discussion which supposes a
classification of facts, every research which requires a distribution of
materials, must be conducted upon the same plan ; so that a young person
who has cultivated natural history merely as an amusement, will be sur-
prised to find that he has unconsciously acquired a power of unravelling
the most oomph' cated aflairs. Nor is the study of this delightful sci
less useful hi solitude ; sufficiently extensive to occupy an intellect the
most vast, it is sufficiently simple, varied, and interesting, to engage the
attention of the most uninstructed ; and it has been stated, by the illus-
trious philosopher, whose words I have just quoted, that, among the
motives which induced him, by all possible means, to extend the cultiva-
tion of this peaceful study, was the conviction that it was more capable
than any other to satisfy that craving for occupation which, he thought,
had so much contributed to the troubles of the age."

Mr. Crampton proceeded to illustrate the benefits
which the study of animal nature has contributed to
the art of which he is so distinguished a practitioner.

" How are we to proceed," said he, " in order to acquire a competent
knowledge of the actions of so complicated a structure as the human
body ? Not by analysis that is, separating its parts, and examining
them singly ; for Bo intimate is the connexion between the parts, so
mutually dependent are they on each other, that any attempt at sepa ra-
tion stops or deranges the whole machine. Happily, however, this
analysis has been made for us by Nature. In the different classes of the
lower animals, we find all the organs which exist in man iu every variety
of simplicity and complication. We have animals consisting simply of a
stomach and its appendages, for the purpose of nutrition; we liave
animals without a circulating system, without a respiratory system, :nul
even without a nervous system. Organs so indistinctly marked, in one
daw, as to leave their uses, or even their existence, in doubt, are found
in another in such a state of development as to direct us to a just con-
clusion as to the part they perform in the animal economy. For example
the most minute examination of the lungs and liver, in the human sub-
ject, would never enable us to understand the relation which probably
subsist* between the functions of these important organs. But let us see

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN. 319

if comparative anatomy does not throw some light on the subject. It is
well established, that a species of combustion is carried on in the lungs,
the combustible principles contained in the blood uniting with the
oxygen of the atmosphere conveyed into the lungs by the act of inspira-
tion ; and when it is found that the liver is largest in the animals which
breathe the least (as fishes and the amphibia?), and that in many of those
it is loaded with oil, which consists exclusively of the combustible parts of
the blood ; and when it is observed that the liver is totally wanting in
the animals whose respiration is the most complete as in the insect tribes,
who are, as it were, all lungs we are led to conclude that there is some-
thing in common in the functions of these great organs, and that the
liver is, in some sort, supplemental or ancillary to the lungs, in disposing
of the combustible part of blood. Who is there whose mind does not
spring at once to the practical inference deducible from this, and which is
so directly applicable to the healing art ? There is no intelligent observer,
medical or other, who has not noticed the connexion between the diseases
of the liver and the lungs, and has not seen that when the liver becomes
hardened and obstructed (too often by intemperance) the lungs perform-
ing a double labour, soon bocome inflamed and disordered. And is it
nothing to know the cause of all this ? Does the empiric, who boasts
the possession of a nostrum for curing a cough, and the philosophic phy-
sician, who traces that cough to a disorder of the liver, and addresses his
remedies to that organ, not to the lungs do they, I inquire, stand on
the same ground ? "

I am obliged to pass over much of what is exceed-
ingly good and pertinent, which was pressed by Mr.
Crampton, and proceed to cite the conclusion of his
speech, in which he took a higher tone, and pointed
out the subserviency of zoology to the purposes of
natural religion, and exhibited science as one of the
noblest ministers (as she unquestionably is) to the wor-
ship of the Almighty Being, of whose existence, and of
whose boundless benevolence and bounty such evi-
dences are impressed upon all his works, but more
especially upon those sentient creatures, of whose struc-
ture he is the wise, and cannot be the purposeless
author. The speaker, in enlarging upon this the

320 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

noblest topic which is incidental to his theme, spoke to
this effect :

" A belief in a superintending Providence must, to be effective, be
something more than the cold assent which the understanding cannot
refuse to a philosophical proposition which is clearly stated and rigorously
proved ; it should be a deep, fervent, and habitual conviction, which
should strike the heart with all the weight of a truth, and all the force of
a sentiment. To produce such a conviction, we must engage the senses
and the feelings, as well as the understanding. Where is the man who
can walk through the Zoological Garden of London, or the Jardin des
Plantes of Paris, and can observe the needle-like bill of the tailor-bird
the trowel-like tail of the beaver the warning rattle of the rattle-snake
the long and slender neck and limbs of the wading birds the short,
strong, and full-webbed feet of the swimming birds the partially-
webbed feet of those birds which both run and swim but, above all,
when he observes the tender and generous friendships which are formed
among animals of different classes their leagues for mutual defence
the sagacity with which they accommodate themselves to their new
situations, giving a new direction to their instincts, and obliging us to
pause before we draw the line which is to separate the suggestions of a
blind instinct from the conclusions of deliberative reason, I am quite sure
that no man who sees these things (and how . small a part is this of what
he may see in a short visit to a zoological collection !) can choose but feel
to his very inmost soul, that he is in the hands of an all-seeing Provi-
dence, whose arrangements in the material world, so far as they can be
seen and comprehended, are those of consummate wisdom and benevo-
lence, and whose government of the moral world, though unseen and
incomprehensible, must be conducted on the same principles. This is (in
iny mind) a great and a practical good, which may be derived from the
study of animated nature ; but there is another, and perhaps a more
direct one, which, nevertheless, may not be so generally acknowledged.
I should think that the question which would first arise in the mind of
any thinking man, on leaving a great collection of living animals, would
be, what are the uses of those creatures ? what is the end of then-
creation ? I will not stop to examine any of the many solutions which
have been offered of this great enigma of Nature ; but I will venture to
say, that, of all the solutions which can be offered, the very last which
could suggest itself to a sane mind would be, that all or any of them
were created for the purpose of satiating that what shall I call it ?
that accursed passion of the human soul, which seeks its gratification in

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN. 321

the Infliction of pain and death on unoffending and unresisting animals.
My Lord, I trust nay, I am quite sure that the question would give
rise to a very different and a very opposite train of thought and feeling.
The boy who, day after day, shares his cake with the bear, who runs up
a pole to receive it with the activity and almost the gestures with which
a sailor climbs the mast, will scarcely go out of his way to see such an
animal baited and torn to pieces by infuriated dogs, set on by the most
brutalized but I will not say brutalized, for that would be to honour them
but the most abandoned of men. Indeed, I should utterly despair of
human nature, if I heard that such a boy, on his return from a zoological
garden, had purchased a badger, which is but a small and perfectly harmless
bear, and kept him in his room for the purpose of worrying him with dogs
tearing open the festering wounds from day to day, until the poor
animal, tenacious as he is of life, surrendered it at last to mere torture
and exhaustion. But the thing is impossible. If there be evil qualities
in human nature, there are also redeeming virtues ; if, in the ' mingled
yarn,' of which our ' web of life' is spun, there is a vice which finds its
gratification in giving pain, there is a virtue which puts us in a relation
of kindness towards all beings who attract our notice by qualities which
are either useful or pleasing. To cultivate a .kindly disposition towards
animals, it is only necessary to know them : an intimate knowledge of
their characters, dispositions, and talents, may, while it affords a salutary
lesson to the intellectual pride of man, tend to abate that spirit of cruelty
and selfishness which leads us to seek amusement in the sufferings and
destruction of the most beautiful, harmless, and happy of sentient beings.
That so favourable a change in the state of our feelings will extend
beyond the brute creation, and infuse its humanizing influence through
the whole system of social life, is no very extravagant supposition ; and
the goodness of a man may still be tried by that sacred test, that he is
' merciful to his beast.'"

It was in this strain of eloquent humanity that Mr.
Crampton concluded. The applause by which his
speech was followed was loud and repeated. It is need-
less to say that it was deserved. His motion was
seconded by Lord Howth.

The next orator who appeared was Dr. Stokes. The
canvass on which I am painting is not large enough
to admit of a distinct portraiture of this very remark -

VOL. II. Y

322 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

able person. A drawing of him, however, I cannot
refrain from making. Dr. Stokes was a fellow of
Trinity College in 1798, and was deeply implicated iii
the events of that momentous period. His recklessness
of all consequences ; his high and independent spirit ;
his stoical preference of what his honour told him to lu>
the right, to what his interest might have suggested
to be expedient ; his devoted love of country, and his
hatred of domination, induced him to take a very un-
qualified and decided part, and what that part was it is
not necessary that I should more distinctly intimate.
How he contrived to retain his fellowship I have not
precisely ascertained; one thing, however, is certain,
that it was not by any mean compliance, or any paltry
accommodation, he secured his college emoluments.
He had, I believe, numerous friends upon the Govern-
ment side, who represented him as a Quixote in demo-
cracy, for whose chivalry in politics a large allowance
was to be made. The matter was so arranged that
he was permitted to retain his fellowship, and he became,
by a regular progression in the grades of the University,
master of about 2000/. a-year. All political disquietude
has passed away ; he had escaped by a kind of miracle ;
and after having been rudely tossed in the agitation in
which he had well-nigh been foundered, he was now
safely anchored in the moorings which the University
of Dublin afford to a senior fellow of that opulent and
exceedingly quiescent institution.

But it was in the Doctor's destiny not to bear with
good fortune to the stimulants of patriotism the ex-
citements and the impulses of orthodoxy succeeded.
The oestrum of theology fastened upon him; and
although he could endure the wrongs of Ireland, he

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN. 323

declared that to the Athanasian creed he could no
longer conscientiously submit, and refused to attend
the College chapel. This offence would have been
unpardonable in any university, but in Trinity College
it became indispensable to make an example of an
Unitarian, whose intrepid infidelity was rendered the
more alarming from his acknowledged integrity and
his lofty-minded virtue. To do his associates justice,
they did not act suddenly or severely. Every effort
was used to reconcile him to the Homousion; it was even
suggested that the profession of a mitigated Arianism
would not be considered wholly incompatible with the
receipt of 2000/. a-year ; but the Doctor was inexorable.
He as peremptorily refused all compromise upon the
unity of the Godhead, as if he had been made a privy-
counsellor in the cabinet of omnipotence, and knew all
that was going on in heaven ; and gave up his fellow-
ship, his cushion in the college chapel, and his fortune.
His obstinacy in error was pitied by his brethren of
the college, and by some good-natured contrivance, in
which Christian charity prevailed over divinity, a pro-
fessorship was secured to him. So much for the Doctor's
general history.

He made his appearance at the assembly of which I
have undertaken to record the incidents. I was not a
little struck by his aspect. A tall, slender, and emaci-
ated figure stood, in an attire of manifest antiquity,
of which black had been the original colour, but which
was now variegated with all the diversities of hue that
time could produce, and was disposed upon his person
with the evidences of carelessness which generally
attend the dishabille of genius. His long, lank, white
hair fell wildly down his head, and over his ghastly and

y 2

324 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

deeply-furrowed features there was diffused an expres-
sion of the mind of which enthusiasm and abstraction
were the chief ingredients. When he rose to speak, I
heard a smart Bluestocking whisper that he looked
himself like a specimen in zoology, and that she sus-
pected that the surgeon-general had dressed up " the
old man of the woods," in the cast-off suit of a fellow
of Trinity College, to perform a part on the occasion.

The Doctor pronounced a speech replete with erudi-
tion, but in which the different topics introduced by
him were most strangely blended, and brought in with
such a suddenness, that his mind seemed to take leaps
from one subject to another, over a wide interval to be
filled up by such conjecture as to his meaning as to the
hearer might seem meet. He opened by pointing out
the facility with which Cashmere shawls might be
manufactured in Ireland. This was reasonable enough,
and excited great attention in the fair portion of his
auditors, who seemed to think that the Doctor had
offered a stronger argument in favour of zoology than
any which the surgeon-general had suggested. But his
next proposition was not a little startling. The substi-
tution of the zebra and the quagga, for the purposes of
Irish posting, appeared to be the boldest vision in
zoology, upon which any speculator in the advantages
of that science had yet adventured. I quote the exact
words of the Doctor, which in the concluding sentence
furnish a specimen of the felicity of transition, which I
have mentioned as characteristic of his eloquence:
"There is an abundant variety of animals/' he exclaimed,
"calculated for swift draught, of sufficient strength and
wonderful speed, such as the zebra and the quagga
among the solid-hoofed, and a great variety of ante-

ZOOLOGY IN DUBLIN. 325

lopes, elks, and deer, among the cloven-footed. Isolated
man is miserable : the productions of his industry are
increased many thousand times by the division of
labour. Land within four miles of this city has been set
for 25 /. an acre, on a long lease"

The Doctor having got to Dublin, did not long abide
there. He took flight with a migratory instinct, and
was off for Africa. He lighted upon Timbuctoo, and
observed that Irish linen there sells for its weight in
gold. The Doctor proceeded to demonstrate, not only
the importance but the ease with which a communica-
tion might be opened with the most mysterious parts of
Africa. He relied mainly upon the antelope for this
useful purpose, and compared the utility that would
result from the application of that animal to the pur-
poses of conveyance to the wonders which have been
achieved by vapour and the railway. He summed up this
portion of his discourse by observing that, " in general,
the application of science to facilitate the commerce of
the caravans might diminish the waste of animal life,
which whitens the desert path with bones." It would
be difficult to pursue him through all the diversities of
topic through which he passed in the course of his very
multifarious oration ; it is enough to say that he entered
into a dissertation upon the mode of civilizing wild
beasts, observing that " a dangling rope deters the
wolves from attacking a sledge: the odour of white
feathers repels the white bear."

He then expatiated on the benefits of incubation,
and said, " one hundred millions of eggs are annually
hatched in Egypt ; sixty millions are annually disposed
of in the eastern parts of Ireland. Poultry abounds in
Ireland." He then enlarged upon the excellence of

326 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

sea-birds, and observed that the rancid taste of some of
the sea-birds may be removed by feeding them on vege-
table food. This suggestion is an improvement npon
Mrs. Glasse's premises. The Doctor's preliminary step
in his application of the resources of the culinary art to
aquatic birds is, " first to catch a cormorant," and next
to feed him.

The Doctor, after having indulged in a good deal of
lore upon ocean-fowl, deviated from the course which
he had adopted in the preceding parts of his speech :
for, instead of rushing into another subject quite uncon-
nected with that which he had been just treating, he
plunged into the sea, upon whose surface he had been
just floating, and, like one of the birds he had been
describing, dived with a piscatory promptitude into the
depths of the ocean. The result of his investigations
was, " that fish supports a great proportion of many
savage and several civilized nations." He recom-
mended the promotion of salt-water ponds in the
vicinity of Dublin for the preservation of fish. To go
through his whole speech would be a difficult under-
taking. It was like Noah's menagerie. He embraced
all living nature. The miracle was how he contrived to
include such an assemblage of materials within such a
compass.

The next resolution was proposed by Lord Longford,
a Protestant of the very first orthodoxy. Mr. Shell,
the Catholic demagogue, seconded hia lordship. Both
these, animals ferce natures, were singularly coupled to-
gether. Dr. Macartney, a man justly celebrated for his
learning and astuteness, contributed his valuable aid to
the projected institution. He was seconded by Mr.
Carmichael (the surgeon), a man of great celebrity in

ZOOLOGT IN DUBLIN. 327

his profession, and who has suggested some new theories
upon the subject to which Fracastorius dedicated his
poetical powers.* Dr. Jacob, who is also a very clever
man, moved a resolution. With his speech, and the
nomination of a committee of Lords, Doctors, and
Gentlemen, the proceedings terminated for that day,
and since then I have heard nothing more upon the
subject.

As far as I can learn, the project has hitherto been
abortive. The mind of Ireland is still too deeply
engaged by its recollections of the fierce feuds by
which it was agitated, to permit any considerable dedi-
cation of its faculties to any pursuit which to the poli-
tical passions do not minister their incitement. This
state of things must needs be of some continuance : but,
as I have already intimated, I do not despair of living
to see the fields of literature and of science cultivated
with diligence in a country which has hitherto been so
rankly fertile in the production of passions, antipathies,
and of envenomed discords. The first attempt made to
establish a scientific society is valuable, and great praise
should be bestowed upon the honourable intention which
prompted the undertaking. One of the speakers at the
meeting pointed to the example of Scotland, as de-
serving of imitation, and ventured to anticipate the
time when Ireland should resemble her in her devoted
attachment to objects of pure intellectual pleasure, and
exhibit the same extraordinary change. I shall con-
clude this article, which has, I fear, run to too great a

* The late Mr. Richard Carmichael was a very eminent member of his
profession, not alone as a practitioner, but as a man of science and genius
for original investigation. The new theory alluded to was upon the
medicinal uses of mercury. His death in 1848 was extremely melan-

328 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

length, with the observations of the gentleman to whom
I have referred : *

" Why should not Ireland become the rival of Scotland in her prospe-
rous industry, and in her high intelligence, as she was once assimilated
to her in her discords and her feuds ? There was a time when Edin-
burgh exhibited a very different spectacle to that which it now presents.
The streets which are lined with the temples of science, were occupied
with feudal castles in which her citizens stood in arms ; the rapiers of the
Gordons and of the Hurrays flashed in the streets, where tbe volumes
in which their deeds are recorded by the inimitable Scotsman are now
arrayed. The shops of the bibliopolist have superseded the forge of the
armourer ; the pulpits, from which the thunders of controversy were
once hurled, have made way for the polished shafts of criticism, and
literature and Jeffrey exercise their pacific dominion where John Knox
and divinity were supreme. And if this revolution has taken place
amongst our accomplished and highly -cultured neighbours if, to use
the expression of our own incomparable countryman, ' Scotland has won
her flight against the blaze of every science, with an eye that never
winks, and a wing that never tires,' why should not Ireland, with the
same eagle spirit, become her rival in the same illustrious flight, and
emulate the loftiness of her magnificent ascent ? "

choly ; he was drowned in sight of his own house, while attempting to
ride across a narrow strip of water on the sea-shore under the promon-
tory of Howth.

* The speaker was Mr. Sheil himself.

329

THE IRISH ELECTIONS.

[JULY 1831.]

IN reviewing the most remarkable of the Irish elec-
tions, and giving some account of their parliamentary
products, I shall begin with Dublin. There the corpo-
ration has sustained, not only a signal, but extraordinary
defeat. Mr. George Moore, the hereditary champion
of ascendancy, and Mr. Frederic Shaw, the Recorder,
have been overthrown by the combined forces of the
Government and the people, and the genius of Orange-
ism has been vanquished in its loftiest and strongest
hold. It was imagined that the position in which they
stood was impregnable; but Reform has scaled the
fortress, and planted the green flag on the proudest
tower on which the standard of the Williamites ever
waved !

X)f Mr. George Moore a brief account ought to be
given. He derives his main title to the predilections of
his party from the recollections of George Ogle. The
latter was his uncle by marriage, and left him his prin-
ciples and his estate. He was a man once well known
in the circles of fashion and politics in Dublin, and

330 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

having a turn for literature as well as for faction, alter-
nately presided over the orgies of ascendancy and " con-
sorted with the small poets of the time." Of his com-
positions, two or three songs remain. The memory of
his political intemperance is not yet passed away. He
was wont to say that a Catholic would swallow an oath
as soon as a poached egg. Mr. Bernard Coyne, once
known in the annals of Popery, called him out for
reflection on the veracity of the nation. They dis-
charged their pistols ten or twelve times. The arms
had not been loaded, and the people, aware of the fact
(of which the combatants were ignorant), gathered to
witness the scene in a wide circle of derision.

This is all I remember of George Ogle. Mr. Moore
his successor, was a man distinguished at the Irish Bar
for the urbanity of his manners, set off by a sweet smile
a look of ruddy juvenility at forty-eight a formid-
able flow of tautology, and a great charm and gentle-
ness of demeanour, which rendered him an agreeable
companion, and endeared him to all those who mixed
with him in the intercourse of private life. He was
known to be a strong politician, but his aspect, his into-
nations, and his address, made those who differed from
him pay little regard to any acerbity in his opinions.
He took little active part in politics. Mr. Saurin, the
ex-Attorney General, perceived that the recollections
Avhich were associated with him might be turned to a
good account, and brought him into public life. Being
in want of a candidate, he selected Mr. Moore, and
threw him into the deepest vortex of Corporation ani-
mosities. Mr. Moore was received with acclamation
by the " good Protestants" of Dublin, and returned by
a vast majority. He was thenceforward the great Cory-

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 331

phaeus of orthodoxy : he became inflamed and heated
by his contact with the fiery mass of faction, and
reflected all the intemperance of his constituents with
fidelity, although his tranquil manner and natural
suavity did not depart. It was pleasant to see him in
the House of Commons delivering himself of the most
ferocious conceptions in the gentlest and most simper-
ing fashion. He was happily called Sir Forcible Feeble.
Mr. Doherty having noted that he commenced, pro-
gressed, and ended in every speech with " the glorious
^Revolution of 1688," took advantage of it, in order to
produce, in a piece of ridicule, one of those " im-
promptus faits a loisir," which sometimes make a man's
fortune in the House of Commons.* Mr. Moore might

* Mr. Moore presented a petition against Catholic Emancipation from
the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Dublin, and made his usual speech.
Mr. Doherty is reported by Hansard to have spoken as follows :

" When he heard his honourable and learned friend tell the House
that he was presenting a petition from the Corporation of Dublin, and
that the Lord Mayor of that loyal corporation was not intimidated by
the existing state of things in Ireland, he was reminded of another Lord
Mayor, who being out a hunting and starting a hare, exclaimed ' I'm
not afraid !' What cause, I would ask, is there for the Lord Mayor of
Dublin to be afraid ? He honoured and respected the manner in which
the petitioners put forward their views, but he could not help observing
he heard little of the arguments by which they supported them. Even his
honourable and learned friend (Mr. Moore), with all his ingenuity, had
not favoured them with any thing in the shape of an argument. Night
after night had his honourable and learned friend dinned into their ears
the year 1688 : it was his everlasting cry. He had left the house for
a short time one evening, and the last words he heard from the h'ps of
his learned friend were 1688. He came back, expecting to find that at
the end of that time his honourable and learned friend had got at least
a century in advance ; but no, he had not stirred from his darling 1688.
It still sounded on his tongue, formed the beginning, the middle, and
the end of every speech of his honourable and learned friend."

332 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

have suffered in the House from the happy laughter of
the present Lord Chief Justice, but was only exalted
by the martyrdom of ridicule into greater favour with
the Corporation. He was deemed invincible, and yet
has been overthrown !

Mr. Shaw, his co-partner in the representation of
Dublin, was less an object of political partiality, but
had many advantages to second him. His father's
bank was a tower of strength, and the coffers, it is
supposed, of the Master of the Rolls were thrown open
their ponderous lids creaked on their rusty hinges in
his behalf. Sir W. M'Mahon is his uncle. Mr. Shaw
had, besides, the recommendation arising from very
considerable ability, which he had displayed in his reply
to O'Gorman Mahon, in which he gave a description of
that gentleman by exhibiting a picture of another, and
was accounted not only one of the sustainments, but,
what is far more rare, one of the ornaments of the
Corporation. He was altogether a most creditable
representative. His solemnity of aspect his full, large
black and brilliant eye his handsome countenance,
overspread with an air of evangelical as well as judicial
solemnity his grave judicial walk, and his Recorder
emphasis on every word, constituted an assemblage of
imposing circumstances, which rendered Mr. Shaw an
object of pride to the body which had delegated him to
Parliament. It was imagined, on the dissolution, that
no attempt would be made to resist him and^Mr.
Moore.

Two candidates, however, were produced by the
people, in the persons of Mr. Perrin and Sir Robert
Harty. The Government, laying aside the quiescence
which had neutralised the power of the Irish adminis-

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 333

tration in so many instances, interfered in their behalf.
Orders were issued, or hints, which are equivalent to
injunctions, were given, which were perfectly intelli-
gible in the Police Offices and the Paving Board, and
a phenomenon in political conversion was presented
in the person of the famous (famous at least in the
world of provinciality called Ireland) Major Sirr.
Sirr had been the Eouche of the Rebellion. He
was a renowned traitor-catcher, and has been com-
mended to immortality in one of Curran's speeches.
He was a loyalist of the first zeal and acrimony,
and lately superadded sanctimony to the spirit of
allegiance, which, among the ascendancy party, is
always, if not synonymous with a man's interest,
quite inseparable from it. "The Major" was the
name by which he was known in Dublin, and the
designation was enough to make many a lover of " Ould
Ireland" thrill at the sound. Sanctity, ascendancy,
and magistracy, all combined to render him one of the
great props of what are called the institutions, and
"the Major" would a little time ago as readily have
anticipated his being called on to " eat a crocodile," as
Hamlet says, as to swallow and digest the proposal of
what is called a Popish candidate for the representation
of the city of Dublin. It was, however, suggested to
him by the Castle, and though it must have cost him
many a straining and stretching of his political
conscience, he stomached the mandate of His Excellency
at last. It was a sight to behold the Major upon this
occasion. His friends gathered to see him go through
the operation, and as he went through it, the public
face wore one universal grin. His example was of no
mean use. The other dependants on authority were

334 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

desired to look on the Major as a pattern, and the
model was immediately copied. A fierce contest
ensued, and Sir Robert Harty and Mr. Perrin were,
after a strenuous struggle, returned members for the
city of Dublin. The pride of the Corporation was
levelled to the earth, and the proud ascendancy that
had so long trampled on the head of Ireland, was
compelled, although with gnashing teeth, to bite the
dust. Than Sir Robert Harty and Mr. Perrin there
can scarcely be two persons more dissimilar. The
former was originally in trade, but having acquired a
large fortune, retired from business. He is a good-
humoured, rosy-faced, blue-eyed person, with a prompt
and ready smile, accompanied, however, with a con-
sciousness of that dignity which fifty thousand pounds
and a baronetcy, the reward of his honourable services
as Lord Mayor, are calculated to impart. He has
always been a liberal man, and was wont to express his
advocacy of emancipation in good set terms in that
convivial rhetoric in which the aldermen of Dublin are
admitted to excel.

Mr. Perrin is a remarkable man. He is of French
origin, and has the peculiar Huguenot expression observ-
able in almost all French Calvinists strongly impressed
on his face. A democratic character is stamped upon
it. Yet it is free from any acerbity, which indeed is no
ingredient of his nature, but has a directness and spirit
of plain dealing which indicates that he would not give
himself the trouble of disguising his opinions, and a
recklessness of the judgments and estimate of other
men. It is singularly thoughtful, and in the paleness
which is suffused over its expanse, the evidences of long
and laborious mental occupation are readily to be

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 335

discerned. The brows are dark and massive, and over-
hang eyes, in which there are no flashes of imagination,
but which are occupied by a thinking and reflective
spirit, and combine frankness and boldness of character
with the intimation of high intellectual endowment.
The manners of Mr. Perrin are well suited to his
aspect and bearing. They are independent, abrupt,
and honest a little curt, perhaps, but never purposely
uncivil. He is evidently a man as incapable of offering
as of brooking an offence, and would as much disdain
to treat his inferiors with indignity, as those above
with abjectness and servility. He came to the bar
without any patron, except his high personal merit,
and under no other auspices has he made his way.
He has attained the highest place in his profession as a
most expert and erudite advocate, and has never
stooped to a judge, or offered adulation to authority in
all that time. It is a most creditable circumstance in
his conduct, that when almost the whole Bar concurred
in offering incense to Lord Manners in an address on
his departure, Mr. Perrin refused to put his hand to a
document expressing opinions which not a single
barrister entertained.* But I go into details too
minute for the compass within which I ought to
confine myself. I pass, without regard to the order
in which I select the localities, to the county of Clare.

Alas ! for O' Gorman Mahon. How has he declined
from the high, although it was a somewhat fantastical

* Mr. Perrin is the present Judge Perrin. He subsequently repre-
sented the county of Monaghan, and was an able and efficient member of
parliament. In 1835 he held the office of Attorney-General, and in the
same year succeeded Judge Vandaleur in the Queen's Bench.

336 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

station on which he stood not long ago, when he
lighted on the tops of parliamentary eminence like
Mercury on a heaven-kissing hill ! There he remained
poised in a "posture peculiar indeed, and sufficiently
strange ; but it was much, after all, to have had all eyes
directed on him, and by his dress, his attitude, his
deportment, and an eloquence which is entirely his own,
to have attracted the regards and occupied the ear
of London. He is hurled down from the peaks of
fashion, and instead of alternately figuring in Regent
street and St. Stephen's chapel, and astounding the
one with his rhetoric and the other with his attire, he
is condemned to wander through the solitudes of Clare,
and to gaze on those mountains which his friend Steele
has associated with the immortal name of O'Connell,
and given an eternity to their fame as doubtless as that
of the foundations on which they stand. I own it
grieves me to see this change in his political fortunes,
and the incident which pains me most is the separation
which took place between him and Thomas Steele.
They were wont to call each other by vocatives of
fraternal friendship, and Tom Steele would end every
sentence by a panegyric on the virtues and services of
his brother O' Gorman Mahon. At the late Clare
election the passion of Tom Steele for his country, or
what he considers as equivalent, his admiration of
Daniel O'Connell, overcame his enthusiasm for his
friend, and they who would have gladly perished for
each other's sake but a little while ago, were animated
by the most deadly resentment. The public are too
well aware of all the gladiatorial interchanges of
messages, and appointments, and "moving accidents

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 337

by flood and field," which prevented any rencounter
between the bands of belligerents on that memorable
occasion. It would, however, be preposterous to throw
any doubt on the courage of any of the parties. They
are all men approved in their vocation, but fortunately
for them and for their country, their O'Trigger propen-
sities were disappointed by a series of events which
cannot be considered fortuitous, but in which the
finger of a guardian Providence can be distinctly
traced. Why go through the half-melancholy, half-
ridiculous narrative of the incidents of that election?
It terminated, however, with a circumstance so honour-
able to both parties, that it ought not to be kept back.
O' Gorman Mahon was assailed in Limerick by an
infuriated rabble. He defended himself with a valour
which was really heroic. When he was on the point of
being overpowered, his former friend Steele, perceiving
his danger, forgetting all their recent animosities in the
remembrance of their ancient friendship, rushed
forward, and raising him with his vigorous arm,
snatched him from the grasp of a sanguinary mob, and
bore him in safety off. That two men, both full of
worth and of high personal as well as public merit,
have shaken hands, with "hearts in them/' is the
sincere wish of all those who are aware of all the good
which they accomplished when they were honourably
emulous for the service of their country, and left it
matter of difficulty to arbitrate between their compara-
tive claims on the gratitude of Ireland.

Mr. Maurice O'Connell, the son of " the Liberator,"
defeated O' Gorman Mahon. He has spoken but once
in the House of Commons, and on that occasion spoke
with success. His demeanour was modest and un-

VOL II. Z

338 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

affected, and won the praises of those who were least
disposed to allow him merit. He is singularly improved
in every particular, and instead of endeavouring to
obtain distinction (a pardonable frivolity) by any pecu-
liarity of dress and deportment, he has begun to seek
the acquisition of a genuine reputation. He has many
of his father's attributes a fine memory, quickness,
and facility. It is certainly an injury, in many regards,
to bear the name of a distinguished person, by creating
a perpetual comparison ; but it is also in many respects
serviceable by opening to the display of talent a career
already formed.

The Waterford election (for I proceed to it) was
attended with a striking circumstance. The Beresford
family that family which had been so long absolute in
Ireland, and which held a pre-eminence in its politics
as lofty as the tall hills which crown the demesne of
their splendid mansion did not venture to enter the
field for the contest of an honour on which they had
expended thousands upon thousands, and which they
not only considered as an appurtenance to their rank,
but as a constituent of their political being. Here was,
indeed, the triumph of Reform ! Before its spirit the
ancient aristocracy, attended with all the power which
boundless opulence could give, was obliged to retreat,
and to hide itself in the recesses of the fine woods of
Curraghmore. The two gentlemen elected are, the
brother of the late member, Mr. Robert Power, and
Sir Richard Musgrave. The former is a sharp, active,
quick-sighted man, with shrewd sense and good faculties,
and likely to be a very useful member of parliament.
Sir Richard Musgrave is remarkable for having in-
herited the estate and baronetcy of the celebrated

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 339

partisan and Irish historian of that name, -whose wild
volumes purport to be a history of the Rebellion, and
contain little else than the visions of an imagination
ridden by a bloody incubus. His nephew, Sir Richard
Musgrave, is in every political respect his exact oppo-
site. He is a man of views as enlightened as his
manners are bland, and who possesses an understanding
as clear and vigorous as his purpose is pure and sound.
He is beloved by the people respected by the gentry
the model of a country-gentleman a kind neigh-
bour a faithful friend, and, in the largest and most
honourable sense of that noble designation "'an honest
man!"

In the City of Waterford, Sir John Newport was
elected without opposition. The Nestor of the Irish
Whigs is too well known to require a description. He
is seventy-five, but his heart still beats with a vigorous
passion for his country, though I am sorry to perceive
that his hand has begun to tremble and his fine eyes
have lost their lustre.

Tipperary conferred a second time an honour on
itself by re-electing Mr. Wyse. It was apprehended
that the death of Mr. Lanigan, an attorney, who, by
his talents and influence over the public mind, has
before so essentially contributed to the triumph of Mr.
Wyse, would strip him of all likelihood of success. But
the merits of Mr. Wyse were too well appreciated by
the people ; they justly felt, that however a man un-
known and undistinguished might be well repudiated as
an alien, genius and integrity should everywhere find a
domicile. There was, accordingly, no contest. Mr.
Wyse has been so much before the public that a
description of him is almost superfluous ; yet to those

z 2

340 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

who have not seen him, it is as well to say what manner
of man he is. His person is small and rather below the
middle size ; he has, however, an exceedingly gentle-
manlike bearing, which takes away any impression of
diminutiveness. He holds himself erect, and seems a
little animated by a consciousness that he belongs to an
ancient family and is owner of the manor of St. John.
He is exceedingly graceful in his manners, and at once
conveys the conviction of his having lived in the best
society. His countenance is more refined than marked
and expressive, and indicates gracefulness and elegance
of thought and feeling rather than any strong and
broad traits of character. Mr. Wyse is eminently
accomplished; a master of several languages; a poet,
a painter ; versed in antiquities, and a traveller in the
East, he presents a rare combination of personal merits
and adventitious advantages. His eloquence is, per-
haps, a little too rotund and full, and he is too whole-
sale a dealer in abstractions, and too lofty an intonator
of high-sounding diction : but it flows out of a copious
and abundant fountain, and runs through a broad
channel, amidst all the rich invcstings of highly-
decorated phrase. What he mainly wants is simplicity
and directness in position and in argument. He gives
his hearer credit for more velocity in following him
than he is entitled to, and forgets that when he arrives
himself per saltum at a conclusion, full many an auditor
may not be able to leap with the same agility to his
consequences as himself.*

The associate of Mr. Wyse is Mr. Hutchinson. He
is generally known by the name of Lavalette, from his

* This accomplished gentleman is the present minister at the Court
of Athens.

THE IKISH ELECTIONS. 341

having, in conjunction with Mr. Bruce, performed a
signal feat of courage, with which the world are too
familiar to make a more distinct reference to it appro-
priate. Mr. Hutchinson had incurred, notwithstanding
the long advocacy of the Catholic Question by his
family, a good deal of popular disrelish by writing what
was certainly a very incautious letter of admonition, in
reply to an invitation to dine at a public dinner at
Clonmel. This imprudence cost him the county at a
former election. He did not regret it, but it grieved
old Lord Donoughmore to the heart. He is now again
elected, and it is pleasurable to think that the animo-
sities between him and the people are at an end. He
is what is commonly called " a good fellow," who does
not set up any claims to eminent faculty, but whose
title to good sense is beyond dispute.

The city of Kilkenny has again sent Mr. Leader to
Parliament. Mr. Leader is a most useful member of
the House. He has a minute knowledge of Ireland,
and possesses perhaps more acquaintance with its
statistics, than any other of its representatives. I
understand he never speaks without conveying informa-
tion, and on that account is always attended to,
although it must be owned, that he sometimes displays
so much vivacity, and animates his oratorical physique
with so much impetuosity of emotion, that he gives the
Saxon temperaments of his hearers a start. But these
imperfections ought not to be mentioned in any com-
parison with his most valuable qualities. He has a
clear vigorous mind, amply stored with facts, and
possesses a perspicuous, full, and simple diction, which
from its freedom from the false brilliancy of that Irish
eloquence which is held in about as much value as Irish

342 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

diamonds, is a good deal prized in the House of
Commons, as the most appropriate vehicle of sound
reasoning and illustrative fact.

Daniel O'Connell is at last Member for Kerry, and
has refuted the sacred aphorism, by becoming a pro-
phet in a country where his claims to inspiration had
been hitherto the subject of incredulity. In the county
of Kerry he had less influence than in any other part
of Ireland, from causes which I have not heard ex-
plained I presume on account of the pre-eminence
which the Kenmare family have for generations enjoyed
in that district. It appeared singular to Englishmen,
that when he started, after his unfortunate exclusion
from the benefits of the Relief Bill, for any Irish
county, he should not have selected his native onc. :: ~
Some imagined that it was in order to give evidence
of his power that he wandered through the country,
leaving it to put its counties into emulation for the
honour of selecting him. The truth was, however,
that he had not at that period any hold over Kerry.
His recent election there gives the best proof of his
increased popularity, and of the extent to which " the
Repeal" has possessed itself of the national mind.
Mr. O'Counell has substituted it for the Catholic Ques-
tion, and turned it to even a more exciting account.
It has effected for him in Kerry what the former mea-
sure could not accomplish, and from the summits of
the mountains of Ivra he beheld the Lords of Ken-
mare, if not tributary to his dominion, subject, at
all events, to his ascendancy. With him, Mr. Mul-

* As to Mr. O'ConnelTs " exclusion from the benefits of the Catholic
Belief Bill/' see the note appended to the papers on the Clare Election.

THE IEISH ELECTIONS. 343

lins, the son of a clergyman, and a relation of Lord
Ventry, was returned. The brother of Lord Kenmare
(Mr. Brown) did not venture to come to the poll.
Neither did the Knight of Kerry, Mr. Maurice Fitz-
gerald. The exclusion of the latter is a source of
regret to those who know him. However opposed to
his late proceedings in Parliament, they recollect his
services to Ireland, and his inflexible adherence, in the
midst of temptations the most trying, to the cause of
his countrymen. In an unhappy moment he joined
the Duke of Wellington. For this union much allow-
ance should be made ; he was the Duke's early friend ;
they both lived together in the dissipation of the Irish
Court, and formed that ligature of friendship which
circumstances are least likely to snap or time to wear
away. The Duke, in his splendid prosperity, always
reverted to the social hours of his youth with pleasure,
and honoured the Knight of Kerry with testimonies of
his undiminished regard. When he came into power,
he tendered him office. It was difficult to resist place,
when held out by the hand of an old friend to one who
stood, perhaps, in some domestic need of it. The
Knight of Kerry gave way he accepted office, and is
now banished, I fear, from public life for ever. I
lament it. He is a high-minded gentleman, belongs
to the old school of dignity and lofty-breeding, and has
a heart, whose location in its right place in his bosom
has never been suspected.

This, the fourth return of Alexander Dawson for the
county of Louth, is at once a testimony to his merits,
and a proof that the Roman Catholic body are not as
forgetful of services as has been sometimes suggested
by those who employed their own estimate of their

344 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

claims to thankfulness as the standard of that virtue in
others. The benefit conferred by him was signal, and
the return which has been made for it has been com-
mensurate. Mr. Dawson broke the yoke of the aris-
tocracy by coming forward from his retirement in 1826,
and has rendered it impossible that it should ever be
again placed upon the necks of the people. His first
speech in Parliament was greatly praised, and was
admired almost beyond any other by Mr. Canning,
who was struck with the intellectual bonhommie of the
plain, unvarnished agricultural delegate from an Irish
county, who told the truth with a strenuous frank-
ness, far preferable to the gaudy eloquence which in
Ireland has obtained so undue a portion of the popular
favour.

The colleague of Mr. Dawson is Mr. Sheil, who has
at length succeeded in obtaining the object of his
aspirations, although it would have been as well for
himself, and better for the country, if he had continued
Member for Milbourne Port. He was already in Par-
liament, and it looked ungracious that he should inter-
fere with Sir Patrick Bellew, the natural representatve
of the county, and who has thrown himself with much
devotion into alliance with the people. Sir Patrick
Belle\v would, by his election, have confirmed the
popular influence, and given it a permanent basis;
whereas the hold of Mr. Sheil cannot be considered as
very tenacious, and there can be no doubt that he will
be strongly opposed by the gentry on the next election,
who superaddcd to an aversion for his politics, a resent-
ment for his intrusion. The friends of Mr. Sheil
consider it desirable that he should be placed in an
independent relation to the country, but Mr. Sheil

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 345

cannot forget the obligations which he owes to the
Marquess of Anglesey to such an extent as to act
against his government.* There is this farther
awkwardness in his position : as a Government mem-
ber, allowance would have been made for his necessity
to sustain the Administration which put him in : he
has now no apology to make to his constituents. If
he votes against Government, he will be charged with
an oblivion of favours ; and if he votes with Govern-
ment, he will be denounced by his friends as a traitor
to the people. The little gentleman is in a practical
dilemma, from which it will require some of his habits
of rhetorical artifice to escape. Mr. Stanley has
already, in the House of Commons, given him some
hint of his displeasure, by referring to his characteristic
impetuosity in insisting that the Government should at
once proceed to the relief of the grievances of Ireland.
The rebuke was well deserved; for while Mr. Sheil
found fault with his patrons for their tardiness, he
made no suggestion of a single practical measure for the
benefit of his country, in a speech which was delivered
on very ill-selected topics upon a very inappropriate
occasion.

Mr. Wallace has been defeated at Drogheda by Mr.
North. The former has now expended some thousands
of pounds in his parliamentary pursuits, and it is to be
lamented that money so hardly earned should have been
so deplorably misapplied. In the House of Commons
Mr. Wallace had failed; that failure arose far more
from accident and obstinacy than from any deficiency

* Mr. Shell's first introduction to Parliament was as member for
Milbourne Port, one of the boroughs in Schedule A, of which the
Marquess of Anglesea was patron.

346 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

in fitness for the House. He rose at three in the
morning on the fourth night of the Catholic debate,
and commenced with the Treaty of Limerick. He
plunged, as I have heard it observed, at once into one
of the old moats of that ancient city, and lost himself
in the ooze, if I may so call it, with which his infeli-
citous topic was overspread. The House had been
wearied with eternal discussion on a matter which the
Joseph Surfaceism of Sir Robert Peel had first thrown
out for discussion ; for he had declared that if he could
be convinced that the treaty was violated, he would at
once give way. Mr. Wallace undertook to convince
him, with what success is well known. The conscious -
ness which he must have of his capacity probably
induced him to feel solicitous to return to Parliament.
He flung two thousand pounds away on the adventure,
and discovered at that cost that the power of the Cor-
poration was not to be resisted. Mr. North was re-
turned. He is thus once more in Parliament; but
when will he be again elected for any Irish borough 'i
Reform will extinguish his political life. I am sorry
that he has exhibited so strange a contrast between his
faculties and his discretion. With great abilities he
has contrived to render himself of little practical weight
in the House, and an object of great aversion to his
country. An advocate of Emancipation, he perpetually
shocked the Catholics by his sustainment of the Bible
institutions, which they held in abhorrence; and
although a supporter of the Kildare-street Society, he
created among the Protestant faction an irreconcileable
hostility by his voting for Emancipation. In the House
of Commons he fell into the same mistakes. His attack
on Mr. O'Connell was ill-timed, because it was no part

THE IEISH ELECTIONS. 347

of his duty to fall on a man whom Mr. Doherty had
officially assailed. In his recent speeches in Parliament
on Reform, although he has evinced abundance of
ability, he has constantly permitted himself to be
carried away by his emotions into the utterance of
language offensive to an entire nation; and while others
asserted their principles with as much zeal, he has
committed himself by the use of unfortunate phrases,
which gave great offence to one party, and proved no
recommendation to the other. I fear that he will not
be elected after the dissolution, and think it matter of
regret. He is one of the few members in whose oratory
the traces of the Pitt and Canning school are to be
discovered; and nothing but the blindness of party,
which shuts men's eyes so close, could fail to perceive
in his eloquence a more than ordinary splendor.

The University of Dublin, true to its principles, and
anxious to have a representative in the House in whom
its politics and literary eminence should be faithfully
represented, has sent Mr. Lefroy a second time to the
House of Commons. As the University has never
deemed it requisite to give any evidence of the progress
made by Science, or by the Arts, in its cloisters, and
not a book of any kind appears in the course of years
to rescue its professors from the imputation of incom-
petence, it was not unnatural that it should choose
for its member a gentleman who had never obtained
any sort of distinction within its walls, and who has as
studiously concealed his own great proficiency in learn-
ing, and his extraordinary talents, as the very venerable
body which he represents in the House of Commons.
On the other hand, the known abilities, the scholarship,
and literary and scientific qualificatious of Mr. Cramp-

348 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

ton, who had obtained a fellowship in the college with
great eclat, were quite sufficient to disentitle him to the
honour of sitting for the " silent sister " in the House
of Commons. It is true that Mr. Lefroy has in one
instance departed from the character of his constituents
and violated a prudential taciturnity. I did not hear
him, but have understood that it was exceedingly im-
probable that the House would ever permit such a
deviation from his parliamentary character again.

But what shall I say of the County of Carlow?
what of Sir John Miley Doyle and of Mr. Walter
Blakeney? and what, above all, of their nominator,
who turned them into Members of Parliament with a
single touch of his magic crosier, Doctor Doyle?
Strange vicissitudes ! Who could have conjectured
that a "Bachelor of Salamanca" (for there, I believe,
the Doctor was initiated into theology), and afterwards
a parish priest in some part of Wexford, and then a
Professor of dogmatic divinity at the sarcedotal College
of Carlow, should now with a mitre, lofty as that of
Becket (although without a gem in it), on his brow, and
a pastoral staff of Bellarmine potency in his hand,
legislate for the passions of the people, and not only
summon and dismiss at his bidding the popular emo-
tions, but without stretch or effort, and by the simple
intimation of his will, accomplish that which not a Peer
in the empire could have effected ? Where is the man,
except James or John (I forget which), Bishop of
Leighlin and Kildare, who could return two county
members ? Even the great Daniel himself could not
achieve so much in any single Irish county. He can
recommend the principle, but not prescribe the men
but the episcopal Franciscan can with a hint of his

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 349

sacred predilection return two members without a
struggle. It must be confessed that his choice was
singular. Sir John Miley Doyle had been hitherto
famous as a walking Wellington testimonial (so he was
called from the profusion of his military decorations),
for his prodigal whiskers that are spread in minacious
profusion over his jaws, and his being the best whistler
in Ireland. lie was an excellent officer, and served
with great distinction in the Peninsula, but his genius
as a legislator was not conjectured, until it was detected
by the sagacity of Doctor Doyle. Mr. Blakeney is a
country gentleman, who did not even take a part in
Catholic politics, and was unknown in the Association.
His only claim to public honours must have been con-
fined to the great respectability of his family, and to
his personal virtues and worth. It is not the least dero-
gation from his real merits to say, that no one ever re-
garded him as likely to become the trustee of the interest
of the empire yet these gentlemen were not only placed
in Parliament by Doctor Doyle, but Mr. Cavenagh and
Mr. Bruen, the heads of the old Protestant aristocracy,
did not even venture to enter the lists against them.
Such a man is Doctor Doyle ; and yet this man, whose
abilities are of the first class, whose power over popular
opinion is incalculable, and who would, if he were per-
mitted, enter into cooperation with the Government
for any legitimate object of public utility, and, above
all, the production of peace and happiness through the
country, is kept apart by a miserable system from the
authorities, and has not even succeeded in persuading
them to abandon that system of education, which,
beyond anything else, irritates and exasperates the
Roman Clergy of Ireland.

350 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

The county of Wexford 1ms, in throwing out Lord
Valentia, got rid of a man, in whom the morgue aristo*
cratique was combined with a feudalism in religion,
(for there is such a thing in Ireland,) and has accom-
plished the double good of removing an evil and sub-
stituting a great good in the person of Mr. Henry
Lambert. This gentleman unites all the requisites for
the representative of a popular county. He has a large
property, he is of ancient family, is devoted to the
cause of true freedom, is at the same time reasonable
in his views, and not only has the judgment to see what
is likely to conduce to the public benefit, but the talents
requisite to enforce his opinions, and become a powerful
expositor of Irish wrongs in the House of Commons.
For many years he did not take any very active concern
in the business of agitation in Ireland. His tastes and
habits are perhaps a little fastidious, and he did not in
all likelihood relish the close approximation with tur-
bulence and the ruder attributes of democracy, which
a large participation in the pursuits of the Association
would have involved. He led rather a secluded life at
his country seat, where be beguiled his time with the
graceful literature and the study and cultivation of those
accomplishments which are most in affinity with a mind
of a nice and delicate texture. He published some
tracts on politics which were full of just observations,
and written in a sparkling and vivacious style. But he
seldom appeared in the convocations of the people,, and
to the great mass of his fellow- religionists was hardly
known. He has now come forward to take the station
which his circumstances and endowments entitle him to
fill, and has already, by his forcible observations on the
Newtownbarry massacre, approved himself to be and-

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 351

mated by the sentiments and possessed of the qualities
requisite for the efficient service of his country.

The member for the town of Wexford is Mr. Walker,
son of a gentleman who was one of the Masters in the
Irish Chancery, and who has a large estate near the
town. Mr. Walker, although a Protestant and a mem-
ber of the highest class of gentry in his country, was
always distinguished for his steadfast and zealous sup-
port of the Catholic claims. He ingratiated himself
in the popular liking to such an extent, that it is hardly
exaggeration to say that he was almost adored by the
people. He never omitted an opportunity to sustain
the lower classes, when oppressed by their superiors^
and on the seat of magisterial justice was the dauntless
champion of the poor. In one instance he particularly
distinguished himself. He found in an English parson
settled in a good living in his neighbourhood, no other
pastoral quality than a peculiar genius for the shearing
of his flock. This shepherd of the people was also a
Justice of the Peace. This nuisance of the altar and
this tyrant of the bench was resisted by Mr. Walker,
He turned his weapons against himself, and dragged
him into the Ecclesiastical Court as a delinquent against
decency, and a mocker of the name of God. After
having broken many hearts, it became his turn to perish
of that malady which he had so often inflicted. The
" arte perire sua" was a just retribution.

Lord Roden had already given some strange instances
of that enthusiasm in religion which consists fully as
much in interference with that of his neighbours as in
attending to his own. He had incurred the resentment
of the inhabitants of Dundalk, by introducing a clause
in all leases made by him, to prevent any of his tenants

352 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

from building, or allowing to be built, a Roman Catho-
lic Chapel on the demised premises. This was suffi-
cient, it is almost needless to say, to arm the priesthood
and array the whole mass of religious passions against
him. He might have been contented with the effects
produced by this offence to the most sensitive of all
feelings, bnt as if he had not succeeded to the utmost of
his desires, he has recourse to an ensuring expedient,
and puts in Captain Gordon of the Royal Navy, and of
missionary celebrity in Ireland, as his nominee for the
borough of Dundalk. The captain may be, peradven-
venture, a most estimable individual in all his personal
relations, and he may have received a special delegation
from heaven on the quarter-deck on some fine moon-
light night upon the high seas. He might have travel-
led on his tour of conversion, when he performed his
progress through Ireland with Mr. Gerard Noel, from
motives in which his heart alone, and not his stomach,
were concerned, and without the least reference to the
justice of Pope's culinary predilection, when he ex-
claims " still let me dine with saints ! " but admitting
him to be as sincere, though as yet not as fortunate as
Mr. Wolfe, the converted Jew, it was a strange selection
on the part of Lord Roden to choose a man so obnoxious
to the Irish people, who have been accustomed to asso-
ciate derision and contumely with his name. But that
Lord Roden is known to be an inveterate antagonist of
Reform, one would be tempted almost to believe that
he intended to expose the monstrosities of the Irish
borough system, by the nomination of a man, as an
Irish representative, whom beyond any other perhaps,
Ireland would strenuously repudiate, and who is no
otherwise distinguished than by those barbarous homi-

THE IRISH ELECTIONS. 353

lies in which mysticism is involved in nautical phraseo-
logy, set off by a Caledonian intonation.

O'Connor Don is gone. His white and venerable head,
his face flushed with rural health at seventy-two, his tall,
straight, and erect figure are " in my mind's eye." He
was the descendant of the last of the Irish kings, and
tempered his monarchical prerogatives by manners of
peculiar kindness, which only reflected the affability of
his benign and gentle nature.*

* It seems to have been the writer's intention to have continued the
account of the general election of 1831 in a subsequent article, but he
left it in the present fragmentary state.

VOL. II, 2 A

355

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND.

[AUGTJST, 1831.]

IRELAND is regarded as a province; and a province
must be always much less under the control of the
legislature, than at the disposal of a man. The Chief
Secretary is the government of Ireland. Since the
Union there have been seventeen ; Lord Castlereagh,
Right Hon. C. Abbot, William Wickham, Sir Evan
.Nepean, Nicholas Yansittart, Charles Long, William
Elliott, Sir Arthur Wellesley, Robert Dundas, W. W.
Pole, Robert Peel, Charles Grant, Henry Goulburn,
William Lamb, Lord F. L. Gower, Sir H. Hardinge,
and lastly, (but it is difficult to say how long he is so
to continue), the Right Hon. E. G. S. Stanley.

It is scarcely necessary to say, that this rapid succes-
sion of functionaries must have been attended with the
most pernicious results to Ireland. Each had his indi-
vidual opinions, views, and projects, and each was
allowed to try " his 'prentice hand" upon the passions,

2A2

356 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the discords, the turbulence, and factions of a vehement
and long-agitated people. But even in this system of
mutations, time enough was not allowed to almost any
one of the tentative and probationary Statesmen to put
his first essay through any process of fair experiment :
scarcely was a plan proposed by one, when its execution
was committed to another, and in the midst of the
performance, a third was suddenly introduced to devise
a new scheme, which was quickly confided to a fourth,
who passed away to make room for a newly-initiated
adventurer in the arts of legislation. Not to go too far
back, Sir Henry Hardinge, who was, perhaps, the best
Secretary that ever administered the affairs of Ireland,
was permitted to frame eighteen bills for the ameliora-
tion of the country, and almost immediately after the
commencement of his projects, Mr. Stanley steps into
his office, and assumes the government of eight millions
of the people.

The great and responsible station which is filled by
this gentleman, would in itself be sufficient to direct to
it a large portion of the public notice ; but the figure
which he has already made in the House of Commons,
in addition to the importance which is attached to his
office, makes him an object of singular interest. His
disposition, his tendencies, and his qualifications have
not as yet been fully developed and completely disclosed;
but enough is already seen to enable an impartial
observer to form a tolerably correct estimate of his
capacity, and, what is far more important in a states-
man, his political character and habits. He is the
grandson and heir to the estates and title of the Earl
of Derby. Thus fortune has been prodigal to him of

MR. STANLEY IN IEELAND. 357

the most splendid opportunities for the achievement of
still greater honour than that to which he has been
born.

The debut of Mr. Stanley was made in the House of
Commons on the 30th of March, 1824. It is commonly
supposed that his maiden speech was in favour of the
Established Church. That, however, is a mistake. It
was upon the Manchester Gas Light Bill that he first
addressed the House, and upon that occasion Sir James
Mackintosh said, that he had heard with the greatest
pleasure the speech which had been just delivered, and
which afforded the strongest promise that the talents
which the Honourable Member had displayed in sup-
porting the local interests of his constituents, would be
exerted with equal ardour and effect in maintaining the
rights and interests of his country.

" Xo man could have witnessed with greater satisfac-
tion than himself, an accession to the talents of that
House, which was calculated to give lustre to its cha-
racter, and strengthen its influence ; and it was more
particularly a subject of satisfaction to him, when he
reflected that those talents were likely to be employed
in supporting principles, which he conscientiously be-
lieved to be most beneficial to the country."* On the

* Referring to the speech thus highly eulogized, as we find it in
Hansard, it is difficult to understand how it cotdd have attracted so
much notice. The subject was the most common-place, and the observa-
tions seem to have been equally so. It was a merit, certainly, that the
speech was not above the level of the matter ; but the maiden effort of a
young man of Mr. Stanley's name and station was sure to interest the
House of Commons, and we are also to remember the effect of voice and
delivery, which probably contributed largely to the success of the debut.

358 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

6th of May succeeding, 1824, Mr. Stanley delivered his.
second speech, which attracted great attention at the
time, and to which it is likely that his antagonists will,
not unfrequently have occasion to revert.

Mr. Hume had moved the following resolution : "That
it is expedient to inquire whether the present Church
establishment of Ireland be not more than commensurate
to the services to be performed, both as regards the
number of persons employed, and the income they
receive."

It was with astonishment that the House saw the
representative of a great Whig family rise to reply to
the speech of Mr. Hume, and it was with still greater
wonder that the following sentiments were heard to fall
from his lips. Mr. Stanley said, (the speech is so
important, as containing an early profession of his
political faith, that I shall extract liberally from it :)

" It was but too well known that within the last few years attempts
had been made by the press, and through the more dangerous channels
of private dissemination, to cast odium on the Irish Established Church.
Her revenues had been commented on with unjustifiable severity, and
the private vices and errors of individual members had been dragged for-
ward with malignant avidity, and had been most unfairly employed to
cast odium on the establishment to which they belonged. He would
venture to say that, if one half of the industry which had been exerted
to malign the Established Church, had been employed to draw forth to
public notice the virtues which many of its members displayed in the
unostentatious discharge of their sacred functions, the Chnrch might
have defied the boldest efforts of calumny and detraction. He would
not assert that there might not be circumstances which would justify an
interference with the property of the Church, but he would maintain
that no such circumstances could exist which would not equally justify
an interference with landed, funded, and commercial property. Such
circumstances did not exist now, nor was there any probability of their
existence at any future period. It was said that the Protestant Church

ME, STANLEY IN IRELAND. 359

had been forced upon Ireland. It was true that a bigoted illiterate
people, possessing all the virtues and vices of savages, must have looked
with jealousy to the first introduction of a new religion, which had the
appearance of being forced on them by their conquerors. The Pro-
testant Church was now, however, firmly established in Ireland. Whether
the present proposition were considered as one of conciliation or financial
advantage, there was no imminent danger which could warrant them in
violating the rights and property of the Established Church. If the
feelings of the Catholics of Ireland towards the Established Church were '
intemperate, it was time to show that the Church was not deserted by
the Legislature it was time to show that her natural protectors were
neither too weak nor too indifferent to uphold her, and that her wealth
excited no alarm among her friends, whatever jealousies it might excite
among her enemies. Happily the time was not yet come when her enemies
might rush in and lay claim to her spoils, under the specious pretence of
affording relief to Ireland, and when, under the guise of toleration, they
might give a sanction to oppression. Warmly as he advocated toleration,
in its fullest extent, he would still grant encouragement to one religion,
alone; above all, he would avoid all such measures as had a tendency to
excite in one party the bitter feelings produced by a desertion of their
interests, and in the other the encroaching influence of rising power. A
publication entitled, Remarks on the Consumption of the Public Wealth
by the Clergy, had gone to a fourth edition in 1822, and in 1824 a pub-
lication, equally hostile to the Church, admitted that the incomes of the
Irish clergy were in the first-mentioned work greatly overstated. It
was in the more recent publication stated, that there were 1309 benefices
in Ireland, according to the Parliamentary returns, at 800?. a year ave-
rage income. Now, it would be supposed from this that the incomes
were ascertained by Parliamentary returns to be 8001. a year on the
average. On the contrary, all that was ascertained was, that the
number of benefices was 1309, while the average amount of the incomes
was founded on a conjecture only. The manner in which this conjecture
was framed was as follows in the diocese of Cloyne there were fifty-six
benefices, the amount of the incomes of which was 40,OOOZ. a-year ; now
it was notorious that the diocese of Cloyne was the richest in Irelandj
and because these benefices, not taken indifferently, but selected from the
richest of that richest diocese, had an average of 714Z., it was computed
that the average of all Ireland was eighty-six pounds a-year per benefice
more. In fact, the person forming the computation had taken the maxi-
mum incomes of the richest livings in the richest diocese of Ireland, at

360 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

the highest time, and had taken an average at one-eighth more for the-
average of all Ireland. The Honourable Member (Mr. Hume) had stated
the average of the Irish livings at 5001. a-year. He (Mr. Stanley) had
made inquiries as to the rate of livings in the North and in the South*
and, as far as his inquiries went, he was persuaded that the average
would not be taken too low at 2502. instead of 6002. ; and he was per-
mitted by the Right Reverend Prelate, to whom he had before alluded
(Dr. Jebb), to state that, from his personal knowledge, this average
was correct for the benefices of Limerick and Ardfert, and that, to the
best of his knowledge and belief, it was correct for the rest of Ireland.
When this average was taken it would be found that, instead of
1,047,0002. (the income which had been assigned the Church of Ireland
in these extravagant estimates) the real income would be found to be.
about 327,0002. a-year. The incomes of the Bishops, like those of the
Clergy, had been grossly exaggerated. Out of eighteen Bishops, from
hia inquiries, he could confidently state that eleven were at or under
60002. a-year four were at or under 60002. one under 70002., and
two others were not well known. The Honourable Member had stated
the incomes of the Catholic Bishops to be from 3 to 4002. a-year. This,
he believed to be very much understated, for he had reason to believe
that even the Catholic Parish Priests had incomes from 3002. and 4002.
to 5001. and even 8002. a-year." *

* See an article on the Irish Church Establishment in the New
Monthly Magazine for July (1831), in which extracts are given from Par-
liamentary returns, which will exhibit the fallacy of Mr. Stanley's reason-
ing in favour of the Irish Church Establishment. It will not be inap-
propriate to condense the very valuable information contained in that
article. In Ireland there are not more than seven hundred thousand
professors of the Established Religion, and the Irish Hierarchy consists
of four Archbishops and eighteen Bishops, while in England there are
but two Archbishops and twenty-four Bishops. In a recent return made
on the subject of " First Fruits," the following are the valuations of
fifteen out of twenty -two Irish dioceses : Armagh, 15,0802. 15s. Gd.
Tnam, 5,5482. 19s, lid. Cashel, 3,5002. (this is a gross diminution)
and upwards ; of Dublin there is no return. Clogher, 90001. Deny,
10,OOOZ. (the Bishop of Ferns allows it to be 15,0002.) Meath, 5,8152.
14*. 6d. Raphoe, 5,3792. 14s. Id. Leighlin and Ferns, 5,0002. Ossory,
30002. Dromore, 4,8632. 3*. 5d. Waterford, 5,0002. Cork, 3,0002.

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 361

Such was the speech made by Mr. Stanley at the out*
set of his political career, when he was only about twenty-
six years of age, and when it might have been expected
that his mind, not yet brought into reconciliation by
familiarity with abuses, would have been in arms against
the system of which he thus stood forward as the
"preux chevalier." Mr. Plunket (now Lord Plunket)
who was the great advocate of the Irish hierarchy and
clergy at the time, (I suspect that his opinions have
since undergone a very salutary modification with
respect to the merit of his former clients,) pronounced
upon Mr. Stanley a high eulogium. He particularly

Limerick, 2,915?. 19*. 8^. Cloyne, 2000?. Killala, 4,600?. From the
diocese of Tuam there is no return. As to the benenc|f Clergy, is
appears by the returns to Parliament in 1828, that one thousand one
hundred and fifty-one parishes had compounded for their tithes. The total
amount of the composition was 278,036?. Talcing the number of parishes
to be a mean between Dr. Beauforfs computation and the statement of
Baron Foster, or about 2,250?., the total amount of tithes will be 542,250?.
a-year. By a return to Parliament in 1824 it appears there are eighty-
three thousand acres of glebe, and estimating each acre at one pound,
the tithe and glebe lands produce 625,250?. a-year. (In Scotland, the
whole expense of the Church is 234,0002.) The revenues of thirty -three
Corporations of Deans and Chapters are moderately rated at 66,000?.
Church fees amount to 187,000?. The Rectors of forty-eight parishes in
Dublin, and some other cities, are paid, not by tithe, but ministers*
money. The aggregate income is 24,000?. Dublin University is mode-
rately valued as worth in lands above 20,000?. These several sums
amount to 1,053,000?. -just the expenditure at which France, with thirty
millions of souls, provides, not for the religious wants of one sect only,,
but of all denominations of Christians in her empire. A.*

* When these calculations were made, the Rent-charge Act (which,
although a great boon to the beneficed clergy of Ireland, nominally
deducted a fourth part from their incomes) had not been passed. It is
necessary to keep this in mind, or the statements in the article quoted
will appear much exaggerated.

362 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

adverted to the promptitude which he had displayed in
meeting these arguments of Mr. Hume, which he could
not have anticipated, and the manifestation of that
peculiar faculty for debate for which he has since
become so conspicuous.

The praise given by Mr. Plunket is as much a proof
of his own discrimination as it was a tribute to the indi-
vidual on whom it was conferred. The speech, however,
which was thus hailed by the Church faction, created
displeasure in that party to which Mr. Stanley was
attached by an hereditary lien. Sir Francis Burdett
replied with some severity, and there was a powerful
minority of seventy-nine, which afforded a strong proof
that there was a disposition in the House of Commons
to lay its hand upon the ark.

Mr. Stanley did not speak again in Parliament until
April, 1826. He went to America, accompanied by
Mr. Labouchere and Mr. Denison. On his return to
England, although he became a member of the House
again, he took no very active part, and although he occa-
sionally spoke, did not attract much notice. He held a
situation in the Colonial Office, where he was remark-
able for diligence, ability, and the spirit of self-reliance,
which has since so much characterised him in his con-
duct as Minister for Ireland. In 'Ireland, where his
family have an estate, (I believe in the county of Lime-
rick,) he occasionally spent some time, and built a
Bouse there.* His motive in this undertaking was the
creditable one of giving employment to the poor, for

* Not in Limerick, but in Tipperary. During Mr. Stanley's most
unpopular Secretaryship, memorable cliiefly for Arms-Bills and Coercion ,
Acts, the public was frequently reminded that Lord Strafford also built
himself a house in Ireland.

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 363

whom it is observable that he has taken every occasion
to express a strong sympathy. When in Ireland, he led
a secluded and somewhat extraordinary life. He held
no kind of intercourse with the gentry in his neighbour-
hood. He acquired amongst them a reputation for
s.trangeness ; he lived alone, was a great walker, would
pace rapidly for some fourteen or fifteen miles along the
high road, with a staff in his hand and with a slouched
hat on his head, and was designated as " the odd gen-
tleman from England." >

On the change of government, he was selected to co-
operate with Lord Anglesea in the government of Ire-
land. Having vacated his seat, he stood again for his
borough of Preston. He was defeated by Hunt, and
sustained no ordinary mortification. It is said that his
failure arose from some orders given by him with regard;
to the public-houses, whence the usual good cheer that
attends an election was withdrawn. The people, too,
were angry with him for having declined to subscribe
to the races, which, he observed, did not constitute any
part of his parliamentary duties. He proceeded to Ire-
land. Sir H. Hardinge had just left the country, and
notwithstanding the quarrel with the Homan Catholic
party occasioned by the proclamations, he had by his
spirit of fair and candid dealing, and by the kindness
and cordiality of his manner, secured a very general
liking. Thus Mr. Stanley had, from an inevitable
comparison, some disadvantage to contend with.

It was with some surprise that the people of Dublin,
saw in their new Chief Secretary an exceedingly juve-
nile and boyish-looking functionary, with a demeanour,
which his shrewdness rescued from puerility, but in
which a more than ordinary carelessness, and a sort of;

364 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

harsh levity, not quite consistent with good breeding, and
alien from the nature of his duties, were observed. In
Ireland, an Englishman in office is sure on his arrival to
be surrounded by a body of conversazione orators and
after-dinner statesmen, each of whom has his peculiar
remedy and certain specific for the evils of Ireland.
Such men seize with earnestness every occasion which
is afforded them of setting forth to any member of a
new government their projects for the tranquillization
of the country. Mr. Stanley, like every other secretary,
was of course condemned to go through this ordeal, but
instead of listening with the " sad civility" which
would become the reception of such oracular intima-
tions, he would intimate with some abrupt jeer, which
bordered on mockery, his utter disregard of the advice,
and his very slender estimate of the adviser.

His rule of conduct seemed to be founded on prin-
ciples diametrically opposite to the injunction which
was bequeathed to Sir Pertinax Mac Sycophant, " to
make every man well-pleased with himself," insomuch
that it was difficult, I have understood, to approach him
without feeling some self-depreciation; and men who
stood several cubits high in their own admeasurement
of their intellectual stature, sank before Mr. Stanley
into an instantaneous and almost dwarfish diminution.
That the manner by which this sudden reduction from
their ordinary height was effected in his interlocutors
was unpurposed, is quite evident ; but it was a fault,
especially in Ireland, which nothing, excepting distin-
guished talents in the House of Commons, before which
every defect nearly disappears, could redeem.

The impression made by Mr. Stanley, in his inter-
course with Irish society, was certainly not favourable.

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 365

As a public man he came into collision with Mr. O'Con-
nell, who denounced him for having followed up the
spirit of the Northumberland administration, and pro-
ceeded upon what is called in Ireland the Algerine Act.
He dispersed the political " dejeuners" which were
held at Mr. Home's. Of course Mr. O'Connell retaliated,
and opened the batteries upon the secretary, whose guns
he had so long and effectively worked. He designated
Mr. Stanley as "a shave -beggar;" alluding to the
practice of Irish barbers to commit mendicants to their
apprentices. There was also a good deal said by him
in derision of so multifarious a name as Edward
Geoffrey Smith Stanley. It was said, not unhappily
in reference to the eternal reiterations of this formid-
able name,

" The war that for a time did fail,
Now trebly thundering swelled the gale,
And Stanley ! was the cry."

All this was borne by the object of so much vitupe-
ration not only with patience but with some scorn. He
knew that the hour of ample retribution was at hand,
and was heard, I have been told, to intimate that the
Honourable Member for Waterford would change his
tone in the House of Commons.

The prediction was verified. Mr. Stanley displayed,
in his very first rencounter with Mr. O'Connell, so
much acuteness, dexterity, fearlessness, and so much of
that subdued and polite virulence which constitutes the
highest merit in the sarcastic oratory of the House of
Commons, that his antagonist was taught to beware of
him, and since that time nothing more has been heard
of " shave -beggar," and of the other somewhat con-
tumelious designations which were attached in the

366 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

miscellany of tribunitian invective to the Secretary for
Ireland. Mr. Stanley gave still higher indications of
ability in his reply to Sir Robert Peel, and in a little
.while established his character as by far the ablest
debater on the Treasury Bench.

His progress in improvement was singularly rapid :
it was not that his faculties were much more fully
developed, but that every night he acquired a still
stronger confidence in his own powers, and that con-
sciousness of high talents which gives them so ample
and so strong a wing. He who rises to speak with a
beating heart, and retains the palpitation, cannot, no
matter how eminently he may be endowed, achieve
anything in a public assembly. Perfect coolness and
self-possession are among the most useful attributes of
Mr. Stanley.

Some sketch of him in a debate may not be destitute
of interest. While his adversary is speaking he shows
little self-command ; he listens with a spirit of mockery
which is not intended to be offensive, but which causes
displeasure ; he turns round to his neighbouring minis-
ter and whispers and laughs; he tosses up his head,
and exhibits a restlessness and impatience of what he
considers to be either sophistry, ignorance, or absur-
, dity. He cannot sit for a moment in tranquillity, but
alternately throws himself back, or opens his knees,
and putting the palms of his hands together bends
down his head, and after remaining in this attitude
suddenly recovers himself and seems ready to spring
forward to reply.

This sort of parliamentary pantomime is not relished
by the Opposition. When, however, he has got fairly
on his legs, he shows an utter absence of the nervous-

ME. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 367

ness and susceptibility which one might have anti-
cipated from an orator whose silence is so much on
wires. With a clear, distinct voice, whose fault con-
sists in its approach to occasional shrillness, and with a
surprising facility of neat and simple phrase, which is
admirably adapted to the purposes of exposition, he
takes up every argument and every fact which have
been pressed upon the other side, and leaves no topic
and no assertion untouched. If he cannot contradict,
he qualifies if he cannot refute, he embarrasses and
where he can contradict, and can refute, he performs
one office with asperity and the other with derision.
His gesture is easy, graceful, unaffected, and impres-
sive. His attitude is manly, and free from any of the
artifices of deportment which Sir Robert Peel is sup-
posed at times to employ. He has great strenuousness,
and even ardour, and after having laid his antagonist
prostrate exults in his overthrow.

Is he then a great orator? That is a question which
as yet it would be difficult to answer. What he pos-
sesses has been told ; the qualities which he wants or
I should perhaps say, which he has not yet exhibited
are of importance as ingredients of the highest excel-
lence in one to whom the distinctions of such an appel-
lation as that of a true orator should be assigned. He
addresses himself exclusively to the reason, and seldom
or ever, and certainly with little success if ever he does
so, to the heart; he does not exhibit, and therefore
does not create, much emotion, and satisfies the under-
standing without bearing the passions, over which he has
little control, away. His manner is fervid, but is never
raised to that high pitch of excitation which in Plunket,
Brougham, and Canning, and lately in Macaulay, wrought

368 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

to much effect in men who sympathise through the eye
and ear as well as through the mind. He does not, like
she last distinguished speaker, indulge in any general
reflections, and although a metaphysical character is by
no means commendable in a parliamentary orator, still
we would desire to hear occasionally some general
remark indicative of his having meditated upon the
interests and progression of society.

Mr. Stanley never indulges in large views, or in lofty
sentiments no generous exclamation ever breaks from
his lips ; his eyes are never on fire with a moral inspi-
ration j he is never " lifted beyond the ground" by any
ascendancy of emotion. His language, although it is
faultless and flows from "the well of English unde-
nted,"* is not rich, coloured, or diversified ; his expres-
sion does not sparkle; it has neither the glitter of
fancy nor the splendour of imagination. He does not
afford, like Mr. Macaulay (I refer frequently to him
because he strikes me to be the man of most genius in
the House of -Commons), a proof of the possibility of
uniting with success the vigorous logic of parliamentary
debate with the most striking embellishments of com-
position, for Mr. Macaulay leaves its vigour to a syllo-
gism while he clothes it with the richest attire which
the finest wardrobe of diction can supply, and does not
shut out or envelope his arguments because he curtains
them with the gorgeous awnings of a richly-coloured
phraseology. Still, for ordinary and practical purposes,
Mr. Stanley would be far more efficient in debate, and

* There was one exception he used the word " talented." Sir
Robert Peel referred it to his American associations, and prayed him
never to employ it again with all the strenuousness of Oxonian adjura-
tion. A.

ME. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 369

however a mere critic might be disposed to assign the
palm to the one, it is to the Secretary for Ireland that a
minister would always, I suspect, even independently
of the weight of great rank and extensive connections,
be inclined to give the preference.

Such is Mr. Stanley as a speaker, as far as I can
judge of him from having seen him not unfrequently
from the gallery of the House of Commons. But what
is he, or will he be hereafter, as a statesman, and when
he shall have been advanced to that leadership, which
his abilities and his great location amongst the aristocracy
entitle him to hold? As yet he has proposed no more
than a single measure; but that single measure has
not, it must be confessed by his warmest admirers,
redounded to his fame.

In the year 1807 the Irish Arms Bill was first pro-
posed in the Imperial Parliament. It was vehemently
denounced by the Whig party. It was represented to
be an infringement of the Constitution, and a proceed-
ing of such harshness and severity, that nothing but an
insurrectionary state of society could furnish its justi-
fication. The Bill, by which every Irishman was
obliged to register his arms, by which a magistrate was
empowered to break open the door, and search the
house of every inhabitant within his jurisdiction, was
passed. Thus the article in the Bill of Eights, which
secured to every British subject the right of carrying
arms, was declared to be inapplicable to Ireland. The
penalty imposed for any violation of the law in this
regard was ten pounds fine, or two months imprison-
ment for the first offence, and a graduated scale of
penalty was introduced for every succeeding delin-
quency.

VOL. II. 2 B

370 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

This statute was to last for three years. It was after--
wards renewed by the 50th of George III, for a limited
period, and has since that time been at different periods
tept in existence for stated times. The Bill was about
to expire, and Mr. Stanley came forward to announce
his determination to renew it. It was a source of great
pain to the Irish members, of liberal opinions, to learn
that snch a .measure was deemed necessary by a govern-
ment composed of that party which had originally made
so strong a protestation against it. They were, how-
ever, prepared not to support it, indeed; but to yield to
it, on the presumption that it was dictated by a sore
necessity, a reluctant, and extorted assent : but what
.was their astonishment, and what was the wonder of
the English members who are in the habit of voting
with government, when they heard Mr. Stanley an-
nounce with his ordinary fluency, that it was proposed
in place of fining a delinquent Irishman ten pounds, or
imprisoning him for two months, for having an old
pistol in his possession, to transport him. to Australia
for seven years !

This declaration was not made with any prefatory inti-
mation of the necessity of strong measures no descrip-
tion was given of the calamitous state of Ireland. It
was not said that murder and incendiarism took nightly
walks through the island. It was not suggested that Ire-
land should be treated like a maniac, and that she should
be denied the use of those privileges, which would have
become a sounder and saner state of popular opinion ;
but, without preface, without any preliminary extenu-
ation, without any attempt to make the House of Com-
mons susceptible of the proposition, at once, and almost
as a matter of course, and (if the word be allowable)

MB. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 371

\vith a sort of glib facility, the Secretary for Ireland
expressed his resolution to introduce a clause for the
transportation for seven years of any offenders in a
proclaimed district, against the act.

At first there was a deep silence it was succeeded
by a simultaneous exclamation of "Oh! Oh!" from
.the Irish members on the ministerial bench, Mr.
Stanley turned round, and looked half-angry and half-
astonished. Mr. O'Connell started up on the opposite
side, and cried out against this .tyrannical measure.
Mr. Stanley, in his vindication, declared that there
never was a time at which "a strong government" was
more necessary in Ireland. There was a feeble cheer
from the Irish Orange members; the House was
adjourned, and down Mr. Stanley came in a few hours
after, and recanting all that he had said, receding from
the lofty ground which he had occupied, in a tone, and
with a look of deference and of depression, he humbly
intimated that his mind had undergone a change, and
that he should not press the adoption of a clause which
had, to his surprise, created so much displeasure.

This speaks volumes. The incidents to this propo-
sition rendered it still more important and illustrative.
It afterwards came out, that not a single minister, not
a man in office, even knew that this new scheme for the
government of Ireland was in the Secretary's contem-
plation. Not a member of the Cabinet had been con-
sulted not one had even cognizance of what was
.intended ; but without consultation, and, it should be
added, without reflection, this measure, which has exas-
perated Ireland, and produced an universal reprobation
in this country, was brought forward by the Whig
statesman, who, in the opening of Parliament, had

2B2

372 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

expressed his conviction that it was only by conciliatory
means that Ireland could be pacified, and reconciled to
her junction with Great Britain.

Thus stand the facts, and they are of the greater im-
portance because they are connected with a man who is
likely hereafter to become the Prime Minister by whom
the destinies of this mighty empire are to be controlled.
What are we to augur from all this?*

The next step taken with regard to Ireland is scarcely
of less consequence. A few days after this proposition
had been made, and had been thus abandoned with a
precipitation corresponding with the haste with which
it had been thrown forward, Mr. O'Connell got up to
move for liberty to bring in a bill to amend and to con-
solidate the laws respecting Juries in Ireland. This is
of all others the most momentous measure, as it imme-
diately affects the administration of justice. What
does Mr. Stanley do ? He who had directed the prose-
cutions against Mr. O'Connell, who had pledged himself
that Mr. O'Connell should be prosecuted, who had
brought before the House a Bill of a character far more
despotic than any which had been contemplated by the
Tory government, openly and before a full House
advanced to the table of the House from the Treasury
bench, and expressed his gratification that Mr. O'Con-
nell had undertaken a task so important, begged of

* Mr. Shell's prediction was strikingly realized in the late Derby
Administration, the spirit and conduct of which were such as might well
have been " augured " from the Irish beginnings of its chief. In Eng-
land, as in Ireland, the necessity for " a strong Government " was the
word; while no set of ministers that ever ruled either country ever
exhibited more lamentable weakness or instability. Their instability,
indeed, was the only quality they had with which the nation had reason
to be pleased.

MR. STANLEY IN IRELAND. 373

him to accept of the cooperation of the Solicitor-
General for Ireland, and hoped that the Government
would have the benefit of the Hon. Gentleman's assist-
ance on every other occasion, where subjects with
which he was so immediately conversant were con-
cerned.

It must be confessed to be a system of anomalies :
the Yeomanry are armed the people are slaughtered
the magistrates who direct the proceedings still retain
the commission of the peace, a return of the evidence
taken before the barrister deputed by the Government
for the purpose is refused. An Arms Bill, containing
the most irritating provision that could be devised, is
introduced' it is at once abandoned, and Mr. O'Connell
is selected to draw up Acts of Parliament for the admin-
istration of justice in Ireland.

The conclusion at first deducible from these illustra-
tions of character, would be unfavourable to Mr.
Stanley and there can be no doubt that his reputa-
tion has sustained, in the House of Commons, no
inconsiderable damage, but it would be unfair to form,
on such grounds, an absolute and unqualified judgment
of his qualifications for Government, and of his genius
as a Legislator. It is probable that the obnoxious
clause was suggested to him from Ireland by some of
those underlings of office in whom too great a confi-
dence is apt to be reposed. In the midst of the hurry (
of his official occupations, with his mind engrossed by
imperial cares, preparing, as he must have been, to
meet the Anti-Reformers upon matters of far more
apparent (though not real) moment than provincial
concerns of Ireland engaged as the chief support of
the Treasury Bench, and busy in the storing of his

374 POLITICAL SKETCHES.

mind with arguments and with sarcasms to be levelled
against Mr. Peel, it is not quite unnatural, and it is to
a certain extent, perhaps, excusable, that he should
have at one or two in the morning, after a long debate,
have produced this his new scheme for the government
of Ireland.

It is therefore reasonable not only to hope, but to
expect, that such errors will not be of early or frequent
recurrence, and that he will correct the first mistake
which he committed with regard to the Church, and
the second with respect to the Country, which it requires
so much skill and caution to govern with success. For
my own part, I entertain a confidence that he will show
a prudence and sagacity commensurate with his talents
as a debater, and that, instead of being a mere dis-
putant in the House of Commons, he will approve
himself worthy of the highest trust which his Sovereign
and his Country can repose in him, and not only rise to
the first dignity, but keep a firm and lofty occupation
of what Cowley calls,

" The slippery tops of fate,
The glittering pinnacles of state."

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" These memoirs are among the most valuable materials for history that have recently
been brought to light out of the archives of any of our great families." Examiner.

" These volumes are a treasure for the politician, and a mine of wealth for the historian."
Britannia.

HURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF MAJOR

GENERAL SIR W. NOTT, G.C.B., COMMANDER or THE ARMY OF CAN-

DAHAR AND ENVOY AT THE CoORT OF LUCKNOW. EDITED BY J. II.

STOCQUELER, Eso., at the request of the Daughters of the late General,
from Private Papers and Official Documents in their possession. 2 vols.
8vo., with Portrait. 28s. bound.

" One of the most valuable and Interesting book* that can ever claim a permanent place
in a British library." Standard.

" These highly Interesting volumes give a valuable contribution to the history of India
and an admirable portrait of a most distinguished officer." John Bull.

"These Memoirs with the Correspondence included in them will do that justice to the
part played by Sir W. Nott in the Affghan war, which it is undeniable preceding works have
failed to do." Atheruetim.

" These memoirs of General Nott, whom the editor very justly describes as a ' model
officer,' have been given to the world at the instigation of the hero's surviving daughters. A
more graceful tribute of dutiful affection to the memory of a departed parent it would be
difficult to name. It is at once a graphic picture of the soldier's career, and a noble monu-
ment of his fame. The work issues from the press at a very fortunate moment. The life of
an officer who followed in the footsteps of Wellington, making the Despatches of that
illustrious warrior his continual study, will be welcomed by many an aspirant for militaiy
renown at this exciting crisis. The volumes form a valuable contribution to the biographical
stores of the age. To the young soldier, in particular, they will form a most v luable guido,
worthy to be placed by the side of the Despatches of the preat Duke of Wellington." Messenger.

" When the late General Nott died, the ' Quarterly Review' expressed a hope that some
means would be taken for giving publicity to his private letters and official correspondence,
because they so completely illustrated his high and chivalrous character, white a memoir of
his life would bold out so admirable a lesson to British statesmen, and so good an example to
young officers. We are happy, therefore, to find that, under the able editorship of Mr.
Stocqueler, the whole of the most valuable portion of the general's correspondence has just
been published in two handsome volumes, which comprise also a most interesting memoir of
the gallant hero of Candahar, giving a complete account of the stirring campaign in Afghan-
istan, and throwing much light upon many important points hitherto left in obscurity. The
work will be eagerly welcomed by all more particularly by military readers and those in-
terested in our Indian dominions." Globe.

" A biography of a first-rate soldier, and a highly honourable man. The book will often be
appealed to as a standard authority. A valuable and most authentic addition is here
furnished to the true history of transactions \vh rli will ever hold a prominent place lu the
annals of our Indian rule " Dublin University Mag.

" We know not a book after the Wellington Despatches, more deserving of the study of
a young officer. It might be made one of the standard manuals of military education."
Literary Gazette.

" This book is one of the most Interesting records of military life that we possess, and
genuine memorial of one who has achieved a right to be reckoned nmong England's greatest
neu." Daily A'etrs.

NARRATIVE OF A RESIDENCE AT NEPAUL. BY

CAPTAIN THOMAS SMITH, late ASSISTANT POLITICAL-RESIDENT AT
NEPAUL. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" No man could be better qualified to describe Nepaul than Captain Smith ; and hit
concise, but clear and graphic account of its history, its natural productions, its laws and
customs, and the character of its warlike Inhabitants, is very agreeable and instructive
reading. A separate chapter, not the least entertaining In the book, is devoted to anecdote*
ot the Nepaulese mission, of whom, and of their visit to Europe, many remarkable stories
are u Id." ' tat

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

TURKEY: ITS HISTORY AND PROGRESS; FROM

THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR JAMES PORTER,
Fifteen Years Ambassador at Constantinople, continued to the Present Time,
with a Memoir of SIR JAMES PORTER, by his Grandson, SIR GEORGE
LARPENT, BART. 2 vols. 8vo., with Illustrations. 30s. bound.

" These volumes are of an authentic character and enduring interest." Athenaeum.

"This book forms a very 1 valuable repertory of Information in regard to the past and
present state of Turkey. Altogether the information is completely given, and for all pur.
poses of reference during tbe continuance of the struggle in the East, the book will be
raluable." Examiner,

" To any of our reader* desirous of forming an opinion for himself on the condition
and prospects of Turkey, we would advise a careful perusal of this work. No work on the
subject could have been better timed, while the information which it contains unlike the
great bulk of those hasty compilations which a sudden demand has called into existence is
not only accurate, but valuable." Morning Chronicle.

"A most interesting, instructive, and valuable work. In no other book that we are
aware of, will the reader find the same amount of reliable information respecting the actual
condition and resources of the Sultan's dominions." Morning Post.

" In these volumes we have the most complete and accurate description of the past and
present position of the Turkish Empire to be found in our language." Britannia.

" These volumes constitute a work for tbe future as well as for the present, in other
words, a valuable library book as well as a book of great contemporaneous interest. Their
permanent value they derive chiefly from the deep research and extensive and minute in-
vestigation of their first author. Sir James Porter, their present interest from the acute and
lively treatment of the events of the day by bis grandson and continuator. In fact, we know
not where to find so perfect an account of Turkey in all its relations with the rest of the
world, military, political, and, above all, commercial." Standard.

"This highly interesting work consists of two part*. The first volume, after a memoir
of Sir James Porter, proceeds to give a general description of the Turkish Empire, of its
natural and industrial productions, and its commerce, a sketch of its history from tbe in-
vasion of Europe to the reign of Sultan Mahmud II., and an account of the religion and
the civil institutions of the Turks, and of their manners and customs, chiefly from tbe
data supplied by (he papers of Sir James Porter. In the second volume we are made ac-
quainted with Turkey as it is ; the religious and civil government of Turkey, its Legislature,
tbe state of education in the Kmpire, Its finances, its military and naval strength, and the
social condition o< the Turks, are all in succession brought under review. The work gives a fuller
and more life-like picture of the present state ot the Ottoman Empire, than any other work with
which we are acquainted." Juhn Bull.

" No publication upon the state and prospects of the Ottoman Empire, with which we
are acquainted can compare with the work now under notice for general utility. In addition
to investigations intj the legislature of Turkey, its civil and religious government, its
educational institutions, and the system of instruction, its finance.", military and naval
resources, and the social condition of the people, ample details are given of its history, and
a short account of the progress of the actual struggle. These researches are interspersed with
journals and letters, which impart a charming interest to the volume*. We hail the appear-
ance of .these volumes with satisfaction, as accurate information both on the history and the
actual condition of Turkey is much needed. Good books are ever welcome, and this is a good
book, coming into our possession at the critical moment when it is most required." v.

HURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS, QUEEN OF

FRANCE, CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER Louis XIII.
By MISS PARDOE, Author of "Louis XIV, and the Court of France, in
the 17th Century," &c. Second Edition. 3 large tols. 8vo. with fine
Portraits.

" A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful, Impulsive, earnest,
and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done justice to by a female pen, impelled by
all the sympathies of womanhood, but strengthened by an erudition by which it Is not In
every case accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these
requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the attractiveness of romance with
the reliableness of history, and which, taking a place midway between the ' frescoed galleries
of Thierry, and the ' philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' bai all the pictorial brilliancy of
the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the other." Daily Newt.

" A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange vicissitudes of
romance been more intimately blended with the facts of real history than in the life of Marie
de Medicis; nor has the difficult problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the
graphic power of dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the
talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss Pardoe's admirable
biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly sustained interest; as a historical
record of the events of which it treats, its merit is of no ordinary description."
John Bull.

MEMOIRS OF THE BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH,

ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE COURTS OF FRANCE,
RUSSIA, AND GERMANY. WRITTEN BY HERSELF, and Edited by Her
Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON. 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d.

The Baroness d'Oberkirch being the intimate friend of the Empress of Russia,
wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of the Duchess of Bourbon, her
facilities for obtaining information respecting the most private affairs of the
principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs unrivalled as a book of interest-
ing anecdotes of the royal, noble and other celebrated individuals who flourished
on the continent curing the latter part of the last century. Among the royal per-
sonages introduced to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette,
Philip Egalite, and all the Princes of France then living Peter the Great, the
Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine aud Alexander,
of Russia Frederick the Great and Prince Henry of Prussia the Emperor
Joseph II. of Austria Gustavus III, of Sweden Princess Christina of Saxony
Sobieski, and Czartoriski of Poland and the Princes of Brunswick and
Wurtemburg. Among the most remarkable persons are the Princes and
Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne and Galitzin the Dukes and Duchesses de
Choiseul, de Mazarin, de Boufflers, de la Valliere, de Guiche, de Penthievre, and
de Polignac Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d'llarcourt, Count de
Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame Geoffrin, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, and
Necker with Count Cagliostro, Mesiner, Vestris, and Madame Mara ; and the
work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet, de la Harpe,
de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernoulli, Raynal, de 1'Epee, Huber,
Gothe, Wieland, Malesherbes, Marraontel, de Stael and de Genlis ; with some
singular disclosures respecting those celebrated Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chud-
leigh, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven, Margravine of Anspach.

" A keen observer, and by position thrown in the high places of the world, the
Baroness d'Oberkirch was the very woman to write Memoirs that would interest future
generations. We commend these volume* most heartily to every reader. They are a
perfect magazine of pleasant anecdotes and Interesting characteristic things. We lay
down these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most fastidious
readers, and instruct the most informed." Examiner.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

THE LIFE OF MARGUERITE D'ANGOULEME,

QUEEN OF NAVARRE, SISTER OF FRANCIS I., from numerous Original
Sources, including MS. Documents in the Bibliotheque Imperiale, and the
Archives du Royaume de France, and the Private Correspondence of Queen
Marguerite with Francis I. By MISS FREER. 2 vols., with fine Portraits,
engraved by Heath, 21s. bound.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"This la a very complete and cleverly-written life of the illustrious sister of Francis I.,
and it may be said of her that the varied and interesting stores of French history offer no
theme more worthy of research and study than the career of this great princess, who exer-
cised so potent an influence over the politics and manners of the age of which she was
herself the brightest ornament. The published and manuscript documents and letters
relating to the life of Marguerite of Navarre, and which are indispensable to a correct
biography of this queen, are widely dispersed. The author has spared no cost or trouble in
endeavouring to obtain all that were likely to elucidate her character and conduct. She has
furnished us with a very interesting and graphic sketch of the singular events and llu-
important personages who took part in them during this stormy and remarkable period of
French and English history." Observer.

" This is a very useful and amusing book. It is a good work, very well done. The
authoress is quite equal in power and grace to Miss Strickland. She must have spent a
great time and labour in collecting the information, which she imparts in an easy and
agreeable manner. It is difficult to lay down her book after having once begun it. This is
owing partly to the interesting nature of the subject, partly to the skilful manner in which it
has been treated. No other life of Marguerite has yet been published, even in France.
Indeed, till Louis Philippe ordered the collection and publication of manuscripts relating to
the History of France, no such work could be published. It is difficult to conceive how,
under any circumstances, it could have been done better." Standard.

" There are few names more distinguished that that of Marguerite d'Angouleme in the
range of female biography, and the writer of this work has done well in taking up a
subject BO copious and attractive. It is altogether an interesting and well-written
biography." Literary Gazette.

"A work of high literary and historic merit. It is full of absorbing and constantly-
sustained interest. In these volumes will be found not alone an incalculable amount ot
historical information, but a store of reading of a charming and entrancing character, and we
heartily commend them as deserving general popularity." Sunday Times.

" A work which is most acceptable as an addition to our historical stores, and which will
place the author in a foremost rank among our female writers of the royal biography of their
own ex." John Bull.

"A candidly, carefully, and spiritedly written production, and no one who peruses it
with the attention it merits can fall to acquire a complete and accurate knowledge of the
interesting life of the best and most graceful woman who ever filled a conspicuous place iu
the history of mankind." Morning Herald.

" This life of Marguerite d'Angouleme is entitled to high rank amongst the many excel-
lent memoirs of illustrious women for which we have been largely indebted to female
authorship. The subject is eminently attractive." Morning Post.

"Throughout these volumes the most intense interest is maintained. Like Carlyle,
Mils Freer has written as one whose thoughts and sympathies became assimilated to the
age. The biography of Marguerite of Navarre is a work upon which the author has
lavished all tbe resources of her genius." Britannia.

HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

MEMOIRS OF JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S. WITH A

VIEW OF HIS WRITINGS, LECTURES, AND CHARACTER. By GEORGE
MACILWAIN, F.R.C.S., author of " Medicine and Surgery One Inductive
Science," &c. Second Edition. 2 vols., post 8vo., with Portraits, 21s.

" A memoir of high professional interest." Morning Post.

" These memoirs convey a graphic, and, we believe, faithful picture of the celebrated
John Abernethy. The volumes are written in a popular style, and will afford to the general
reader much instruction and entertainment." Herald.

" This is a book which ought to be read by every one. The professional man will find
in it the career of one of the most illustrious professors of medicine of our own or of any
other age the student of Intellectual science, the progress of a truly profound philosopher
and all, the lesson afforded by a good man's life. Abernethy's memory is worthy of a good
biographer, and happily it has found one." Standard.

"We hope these volumes will be perused by all our readers. They are extremely
interesting, and not only give an account of Abernethy, which cannot fall to be read with
benefit, but they discuss incidentally many questions of medicine and medical polity. Mr.
Macilwain Is lond of anecdotes, and has inserted a great number; this does not render his
work less pleasant reading. We recommend it most strongly as an interesting, and, at the
same time, instructive treatise." Medico-CMrurfical Review.

THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN

EUROPE ; constituting a complete History of the Literature of Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, with copious Specimens of the most cele-
brated Histories, Romances, and Popular Legends and Tales, old Chivalrous
Ballads, Tragic and Comic Dramas, National Songs, Novels and Scenes from
the Life of the Present Day. By WILLIAM and MARY HOWITT. 2 voh.
post 8vo. 21s.

" English readers hare long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They have now
increased our obligations by presenting us with this most charming and valuable work, by
means of which the great majority of the reading public will be, for the first time, made
acquainted with the rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and
beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin is lost in
antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness Knorrlng, the prose and poetic
writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland are here introduced to us In a manner
at once singularly comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the
very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have old ballads and
fairy tales, always fascinating ; we have scenes from plays, and selections from the poets,
with most attractive biographies of great men. The songs and ballads are translated with
exquisite poetic beauty." Sun.

RULE AND MISRULE OF THE ENGLISH IN

AMERICA. By the Author of " SAM SLICK." 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" We conceive this work to be by far the most valuable and important Judge Haliburton
has ever written. While teeming with interest, moral and historical, to the general reader,
it equally constitutes a philosophical study for the politician and statesman. It will be found
to let In a flood of light upon the actual origin, formation, and progress of the republic of
the United States." Naval and Military Gazette.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF

GENERAL SIR HARRY CALVERT, BART., G.C.B. and G.C.H., AD-
JUTANT-GENERAL OF THE FORCES UNDER H.R.H. THE DUKE OF YORK,

comprising the Campaigns in Flanders and Holland in 1793-94; with an
Appendix containing His Plans for the Defence of the Country in case of
Invasion. Edited by His Son, SIR HARRY VERNE Y, BART." 1 vol. royal
8vo., with large maps, 14s.

" Both the journals and letters of Capt. Calvert are full of interest. The letters, in
particular, are entitled to much praise. Not too long, easy, graceful, not without wit, and
everywhere marked by good sense and good taste the series addressed by Capt. Calvert to
his sister are literary compositions of no common order. With the best means of observing
tke progress of the war, and with his faculties of judgment exercised and strengthened by
experience a quick eye, a placid temper, and a natural aptitude for language rendered
Capt. Calvert in many respects a model of a military critic. Sir Harry Verney has per-
formed his duties of editor very well. The book is creditable to all parties concerned in its
production." Athenaeum.

RECOLLECTIONS OF MY MILITARY LIFE. BY

COLONEL LANDMANN, Late of the CORPS OF ROVAL ENGINEERS,
Author of " Adventures and Recollections." 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

"Much as has been written of late years about war and Wellington, we know of nothing
that contains so striking a picture of the march and the battle as seen by an individual, or so
close and homely a sketch of the Great Captain in the outset of the European career of Sir
Arthur Wellesley." Spectator.

" The deserved popularity with which the previous volumes of Colonel Landmann's
adventures were received will be increased by the present portion of these interesting and
amusing records of a long life passed in active and arduous service. The Colonel's
shrewdness of observation renders his sketches of character highly amusing." Britannia.

COLONEL LANDMANN'S ADVENTURES AND RE-
COLLECTIONS. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" Among the anecdotes in this work will be found notices of King George HI., the Duket
of Kent, Cumberland. Cambridge, Clarence, and Richmond, the Princess Augusta, General
Garth, Sir Harry Hildmay, Lord Charles Somerset, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Heath-
field, Captain Grose, &c. The volumes abound in interesting matter. The anecdotes are
one and all amusing." Observer.

"These 'Adventures and Recollections' are those of a gentleman whose birth and
profession gave him faciiitirs of access to distinguished society. Colonel Landmann writes
so agreeably that we have little doubt that his volumes will be acceptable." Athenaeum.

ADVENTURES OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS.

SECOND SERIES. By WILLIAM GRATTAN, Eso., late LIEUTENANT
CONNAUGHT RANGERS. 2 vols. 21s.

" In this second series of the adventures of this famous regiment, the author extend*
his narrative from the first format'oci of the gallant 88th up to the occupation of Paris. All
the battles, sieges, and skirmishes, in which the regiment took part, are described. The
volumes are interwoven with original anecdotes that give a freshness and spirit to the whole.
The stories, and the sketches of society and manners, with the anecdotes of the celebrities of
the time, are told in an agreeable and unaffected manner. The work bears all the character-
istics of a soldier's straightforward and entertaining narrative." Sunday Times.

10 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

PAINTING AND CELEBRATED PAINTERS, AN-
CIENT and MODERN ; including Historical and Critical Notices of the
Schools of Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Edited by
LADY JERVIS. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" This book is designed to give to the general public a popular knowledge of the History
of Painting and the characters of Painters, with especial reference to the most prominent
among those of their works which are to be seen in English galleries. It is pleasantly written
with the intention of serving a useful purpose. It succeeds in its design, and will be of real
use to the multitude of picture seers. As a piece of agreeable reading also. It is unex-
ceptionable." Kxaminer.

" This useful and well-arranged compendium will be found of value to the amateur, and
pleasing as well as instructive to the general reader ; and, to give it still further praise, the
collector will find abundance of most useful information, and many an artist will rise from
the perusal of the work with a much clearer idea of his art than he had before. We sum up
its merits by recommending it us an acceptable handbook to the principal galleries, and a
trustworthy guide to a knowledge of the celebrated paintings in England, and that this
information is valuable and much required by many thousands is a well-proven fact."
Sun-lay Times.

" In turning over Lady Jervis's pages, we are astonished at the amount of knowledge
she has acquired. We can testify to the accuracy of her statements, and to the judiciousness
of her remarks. The work will deserve to take rank with those of Waagen and Passavant.
To the art-student's attention it is in every respect to be commended." Messenger.

" It is not overstating the merits of the work to describe it as the most complete, and, at
the same time, one of the most trustworthy guides to a knowledge of the celebrated paintings
in England that has hitherto been published." Observer.

CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. BY JAMES

BRUCE. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

This work comprises Biographies of the following Classic and Historic Per-
sonages : Sappho, ^Esop, Pythagoras, Aspasia, Milto, Agesilaus, Socrates, Plato,
Alcib^ades, Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Scipio
Africanus, Sylla, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Gerraanicus,
Caligula, Lollia Paulina, Caesonia, Boadicea, Agrippina, Poppaea, Otho, Commodus,
Caracalla, Heliogabalus, Zenobia, Julian the Apostate, Eudocia, Theodora,
Charlemagne, Abelard and Heloise, Elizabeth of Hungary, Dante, Robert Bruce,
Ignez de Castro, Agnes Sorrel, Jane Shore, Lucrezia Borgia, Anne Bullen, Diana
of Poitiers, Catherine de Medicis, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots,
Cervantes, Sir Kenelm Oigby, John Sobieski, Anne of Austria, Ninon del'Enclos,
Mile, de Montpensier, the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Maintenon, Catherine
of Russia, and Madame de Stael.

" A book which has many merits, most of all, that of a fresh and unhacknied subject.
The volumes are the result of a good deal of reading, and have besides an original spirit and
fl.ivour about them, which have pleased us much. Mr. Bruce is often eloquent, often
humorous, and has a proper appreciation of the wit and sarcasm belonging in abundance to
bis theme. The variety and amount of information scattered through his volumes entitle
them to be generally read, and to be received on all hands with merited favour." Kxaminer.

" We find In these piquant volumes the liberal outpourings of a ripe scholarship, the
results of wide and various reading, given in a style and manner at once pleasant and pictu-

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 11

MILITARY LIFE IN ALGERIA. BY THE COUNT P.

DE CASTE LLANE. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" We commend this book as really worth perusal. The volumes make us familiarly
acquainted with the nature of Algerian experience. St. Arnaud, Canrobert, Changarnier,
Cavaignac, Lamoriciere, are brought prominently before the reader." Examiner,

" These volumes will be read with extraordinary interest. The vivid manner in which
the author narrates his adventures, and the number of personal anecdotes that he tells,
engage the reader's attention in an extraordinary manner." Sunday Times.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ENGLISH SOLDIER IN

THE UNITED STATES' ARMY. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" The novelty characterising these interesting volumes is likely to secure them many
readers. In the first place, an account of the internal organization, the manners and customs
of the United States' Federal Army, is in itself a novelty, and a still greater novelty is to
have this account rendered by a mau who had served in the English before joining the
American army, and who can give his report after having every opportunity of comparison.
The author went through the Mexican campaign with General Scott, and bis volumes
contain much descriptive matter concerning battles, sieges, and marches on Mexican
territory, besides their sketches of the normal chronic condition of the United States' soldier
in time of peace." Daily Newt.

CANADA AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE. BY THE

late LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR R. BONNYCASTLE. With an Account
of Recent Transactions, by SIR J. E. ALEXANDER, K.L.S., &c. 2 vols.,
post 8vo. with maps, &c., 21s.

"These volumes offer to the British public a clear and trustworthy statement of the
affairs of Canada, and the effects of the immense public works in progress and completed j
with sketches of locality and scenery, amusing anecdotes of personal observation, and gene-
rally every information which may be of use to the traveller or settler, and the military and
political reader. Messenger.

ATLANTIC AND TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES. BY

CAPTAIN MACKINNON, R.N. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

"Captain Mackinnon's sketches of America are of a striking character and permanent
ralue. His volumes convey a just impression of the United States, a fair and candid view of
their society and institutions, so well written and so entertaining that the effect of their
perusal on the public here must be considerable. They are light, animated, and lively, full
of racy sketches, picture* of life, anecdotes of society, visits to remarkable men and famous
places, sporting episodes, &c., very original and interesting." Sunday Time*.

SPAIN AS IT IS. BY G. A. HOSKINS, ESQ.

2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" To the tourist this work will prove invaluable. It is the most complete and interesting
portraiture of Spain that has ever come under our notice." John Bull.

HISTORY OF CORFU; AND OF THE REPUBLIC

OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS. By LIEUT. H. J. W. JERVIS, Roya 1
Artillery. 1 vol. post 8vo. 10s. 6d.

" Written with great care and research, and including probably nil the particulars of
any moment in the history of Corfu." Athenaeum.

12 HURST AND BLACKETl's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

HOME LIFE IN RUSSIA. REVISED BY COL. LACH

SZYRMA, Editor of" REVELATIONS OF SIBERIA." 2 vols. postSvo. 21s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" This work give* a very interesting and graphic account of the manners and customs of
the Russian people. The most interesting and amusing parts of the work will be found to be
those interior scene* In the houses of the wealthy and middle classes of Russia upon which
we have but scanty Information, although they are some of the most striking and truthful
indications of the progress and civilization of a country. As such we recommend them to the
study of our readers." Observer.

"A curious, extraordinary, and very entertaining memoir is contained in these volumes,
i.nd at the present crisis cannot but command an eager perusal. The special recommenda-
tion of the work to us is the novel view and clear insight it affords Englishmen of the real
character of the Russians. Their sayings and doings, and the machinery of their society, are
a 1 laid unsparingly bare." Sunday Times.

" So little Is known In this country of the internal condition of Russia, or the state of
society in that enormous empire, that the contents of these volumes will naturally be perused
with great curiosity. The volumes abound in lively dialogue, and are enlivened by satirical
and humorous touches, and the manners and customs of the individuals composing what is
called the middle rank in Russia are graphically described." Morning Herald.

"A very remarkable work, and one which, interesting at any time, will not fail to
extract peculiar attention at the present moment. Once read, it will never be forgotten."
Post.

REVELATIONS OF SIBERIA. BY A BANISHED

LADY. Edited by COLONEL LACH SZYRMA. Third and cheaper
Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo. 16s.

" A thoroughly good book. It cannot be read by too many people." Dickens'* House.
haU Words.

" The authoress of these volumes was a lady of quality, who, having incurred the
displeasure of the Russian Government for a political offence, was exiled to Siberia. The
nlace of her exile was Berezov, the most northern part of this northern penal settlement ; and
In it she spent about two years, not unprofitably.as the reader will find by her interesting
work, containing a lively and graphic picture of the country, the people, their manners and
customs, &c. The book gives a most important and valuable insight into the economy ot
what has been hitherto the terra incognita of Russian despotism," Daily yews.

" Since the publication of the famous romance the ' Exiles of Siberia,' of Madame
Cottin, we have had no account of these desolate lands more attractive than the present
' rork, from the pen of the Lady Eve Felinska, which, In its unpretending style and truthful
simplicity will win its way to the reader's heart, and compel him to sympathise with tlM
fair sufferer. The series of hardships endured in traversing these frozen solitudes Is
aJectingly told ; and once settled down at one of the most northern points of the convict
territory, Berezov, six hundred miles beyond Tobolsk, the Author exhibits an observant eye
tor the natural phenomena of those latitudes, as well as the habits of the semi. barbarous
a'joriginei. This portion of the book will be found by the naturalist as well as ethnologist
(Oil of valuable Information." Globe.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 13

NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD,

Comprising A WINTER PASSAGE ACROSS THE ANDES TO CHILI, WITH A
VISIT TO THE GOLD REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA AND AUSTRALIA, THE SOUTH
SEA ISLANDS, JAVA, etc. By F. GERSTAECKER. 3 vols. post 8ro.
31s. 6d.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" Starting from Bremen for California, the author of this Narrative proceeded to Rio,
and thence to Buenos Ayres; where he exchanged the wild seas for the yet wilder Pampas,
and made his way on horseback to Valparaiso across the Cordilleras a winter passage full of
difficulty and danger. From Valparaiso he sailed to California, and visited San Francisco,
Sacramento, and the mining districts generally. Thence he steered his course to the South
Sea Islands, resting at Honolulu, Tahiti, and other gems of the sea in that quarter, and from
thence to Sydney, marching through the Murray Valley, and inspecting the Adelaide district.
From Australia he dashed onward to Java, riding through the interior, and taking a general
survey of Batavia, with a glance at Japan and the Japanese An active, intelligent, observant
man, the notes he made of his adventures are full of variety and interest. His descriptions of
places and persons are lively, and bis remarks on natural productions and the phenomena of
earth, sea, and sky are always sensible, and made with a view to practical results. Those
portions of the Narrative which refer to California and Australia are replete with vivid
sketches ; and indeed the whole work abounds with living and picturesque descriptions of
men, manners, and localities." Globe.

" Independently of great variety for these pages are never monotonous or dull a
pleasant freshness pervades Mr. Gerstaecker's chequered narrative. It offers much to
interest, and conveys much valuable information, set forth in a very lucid and graphic
manner. ' ' Atherumm.

"A book of travels of a superior kind, both as regards the varied information it con-
tains and the spirited style in which it is written." Literary Gazette.

A SKETCHER'S TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. BY

ROBERT ELWES, Esa. Second Edition, 1 vol. royal 8vo., with 21
Coloured Illustrations from Original Designs by the Author. 21s. elegantly
bound, gilt edges.

" Combining in itself the best qualities of a library volume with that of a gift-book, is
Mr. Elwes' ' Sketcher's Tour.' It is an unaffected, well-written record of a tour of some
36,000 miles, and is accompanied by a number of very beautiful tinted lithographs, executed
by the author. These, as well as the literary sketches in the volume, deal most largely with
Southern and Spanish America, whence the reader Is afterwards taken by Lima to the
Sandwich Islands, is carried to and fro among the strange and exciting scenes of the
Pacific, thence sails to the Australian coast, passes to China, afterwards to Singapore
and Bombay, and so home by Egypt and Italy. The book is pleasantly written throughout,
and with the picturesque variety that cannot but belong to the description of a succession of
such scenes, is also full of interesting and instructive remarks." Examiner.

"The garment in which this book comes forth seems to point out the drawing-room table
as its place of destination. The nature of its contents, cheerful, lively letter-presswill
assure it a ready welcome there. Yet it is not, therefore, ineligible for the library shelf even
for that shelf which is devoted to ' Voyages Round the World.' Pleasanter reading, we
repeat, need not be offered than our sketcher brings." Athenaeum.

14 HURST AND BLACKETr's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

AUSTRALIA AS IT IS: ITS SETTLEMENTS, FARMS,

AND GOLD FIELDS. By F. LANCELOT, Eso., MINERALOGICAL Sun-
VKTOR IN THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. Second Edition, revised. 2 vole,
post 8vo. 21s.

" This is an unadorned account of the actual condition in which these colonies are found,
by a professional surveyor and mineralogist, who goes over the ground with a careful glance
and a remarkable aptitude for seizing on the practical portions of the subject. On the
climate, the vegetation, and the agricultural resources of the country, h is copious in the
extreme, and to the intending emigrant an Invaluable instructor. As may be expected from
a scientific hand, the subject of gold digging undergoes a thorough manipulation. Mr.
Lancelot dwells with minuteness on the several indications, stratifications, varieties of soil,
and methods of working, experience has pointed out, and offers a perfect manual of the new
craft to the adventurous settler. Nor has he neglected to provide him with information as to
the sea voyage, and all its accessories, the commodities most in request at the antipodes, and
a general view of social wants, family management, &c., such as a shrewd and observant
counsellor, aided by old resident authorities, can afford. As a guide to the auriferous regions,
as well as the pastoral solitudes of Australia, the work is unsurpassed." Globe.

" We advise all about to emigrate to take this book as a counsellor and companion."
Lloyd's Weekly Paper.

A LADTS VISIT TO THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF

AUSTRALIA. By MRS. CLACY. 1 vol. 10s. 6d.

" The most pithy and entertaining of all the books that have been written on the gold
diggings." Literary Gazette.

"Mrs. Clacy's book will be read with considerable interest, and not without profit.
Her statements and advice will be most useful among her own sex." Athenaeum.

" Mrs. Clacy tells her story well. Her book is the most graphic account of the digging*
and the gold country in general that Is to be had." Daily News.

" We recommend this work as the emigrant's vade mecum." Home Companion.

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF AUSTRALIAN LIFE.

By MRS. CLACY. Author of " A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings."
2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" In these volumes Mrs. Clacy has presented life in Australia in all its varied aspects.
An Intimate acquaintance with the country, and with the circumstances in which settlers and
emigrants find themselves, has enabled the writer to impart to her narrative a character of
truthfulness and life-like animation, which renders them no less instructive than charming.
The book is throughout exceedingly attractive." John Bull.

"While affording amusement to the general reader, these ' Lights and Shadows of
Australian Life,' are full of useful hints to intending emigrants, and will convey to friends at
home acceptable information as to the country where so many now have friends or relatives."
Literary Gazette.

" These volumes consist of a series of very interesting tales, founded on facts, in which the
chief features of a settler's life are shown. To intending emigrants the work will be specially
attractive, but the ordinary novel reader will find that these narratives are more likely to
amue an idle hour than more ambitious productions possessing, as they do, the charm of
truth with the fascination of fiction." Sun.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1 5

TEAVELS IN EUROPEAN TURKEY: THROUGH

BOSNIA, SERVIA, BULGARIA, MACEDONIA, ROUMELIA, ALBANIA, AMD
EPIRCS ; WITH A VISIT TO GREECE AND THE IONIAN ISLES, and a HOME-
WARD TOUR THROUGH HUNGARY AND THE ScLAVONIAN PROVINCES OF

AUSTRIA ON THE LOWER DANUBE. By EDMUND SPENCER, Esa.
Author of " Travels in Circassia," etc. Second and Cheaper Edition, in
2 vols. 8vo., with Illustrations, and a valuable Map of European Turkey
from the most recent Charts in the possession of the Austrian and Turkish
Governments, revised by the Author, 18s.

" These important volumes describe some of 'hose countries to which public attention
is now more particularly directed: Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. The author has
given us a most interesting picture of the Turkish Empire, its weaknesses, and the embar-
rassments from which it is now suffering, its financial difficulties, the discontent of its
Christian, and the turbulence of a great portion of its Mohammedan subjects. We cordially
recommend Mr. Spencer's valuable and interesting volumes to the attention of the reader."
V. S. Magazine,

" This interesting work contains by far the most complete, the most enlightened, and
the most reliable amount of what has been hitherto almost the terra incognita of European
Turkey, and supplies the reader with abundance of entertainment as well a? instruction."
John Bull.

A TOUR OF INQUIRY THROUGH FRANCE AND

ITALY, Illustrating their PRESENT SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS
CONDITION. By EDMUND SPENCER, Esa., Author of " Travels in
European Turkey," " Circassia," &c. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" Mr. Spencer has travelled through France and Italy, with the eyes and feelings of a
Protestant philosopher. His volumes contain much valuable matter, many judicious remarks,
and a great deal of useful information." Morning Chronicle.

ARCTIC MISCELLANIES, A SOUVENIR OF THE

LATE POLAR SEARCH. By THE OFFICERS AND SEAMEN OF THE
EXPEDITION. DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE LORDS OF THB
ADMIRALTY. Second Edition. 1 vol., with numerous Illustrations.
10*. Gd.

" This volume is not the least interesting or instructive among the records of the late
expedition in search of Sir John Fcanklin, commanded by Captain Austin. The most
valuable portions of the book are those which relate to the scientific and practical observations
made in the course of the expedition, and the descriptions of scenery and incidents of arctic
travel. From the variety of the materials, and the novelty of the scenes and incidents to
which they refer, no less than the interest which attaches to all that relates to the probable
safety of Sir John Franklin and his companions, the Arctic Miscellanies forms a very
readable book, and one thut redounds to the honour of the national character." The Times.

16 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

FOREST LIFE IN CEYLON. BY W. KNIGHTON, M.A.,

formerly SECRETARY TO THE CEYLON BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
Second Edition, 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" A very clever and amusing book, by one who has lived aa a planter and journalist many
years in Ceylon. The work Is filled with interesting accounts of the sports, resources, pro-
ductions, scenery, and traditions of the island. The sporting adventures are narrated In a
very spirited manner." Standard.

" We have not met with a more delightful book for along time past." Lit. Qaz.

"We have no recollection of a more interesting or instructive work on Ceylon and the
Cingalese than that which Mr. Knighton has just given to the world. It displays a great deal of
acnteness and sagacity in its observation of men and manners, and contains a vast deal of
useful information on topics, historical, political, and commercial, and has the charm of a
fluent and graphic style." Morning Pott.

TROPICAL SKETCHES; OR, REMINISCENCES OF

AN INDIAN JOURNALIST. BY W. KNIGHTON, M.A., Author of
" Forest Life in Ceylon." 2 vols post 8vo. 21s.

" When Mr. Knightou's pleasant volumes on Ceylon were published, we freely gave his
publication the praise which it appears to have well deserved, since another edition has been,
calledfor. Amongst the writersof the day, we know of none who are more felicitous in hitting off
with an amusing accuracy, the characters he has met with, and his descriptive powers are first-
rate. Take his Sketches up and open where you will, he touches upon topics of varied
nature now political, anon historical or commercial, interspersed with traits of society and
manners, every page teeming with information, combined with lively detail. His style, indeed,
is eminently attractive. There is no weariness comes over the reader with Mr. Knighton's
work before him all is vivacity. The Tropical Sketches contains the result of the author's
experience in the East in various capacities,, but he is chiefly at home when he enters upon
the narrative of his mission as H journalist. His revelations of his labours in an educational
capacity, are highly amusing, and there is an added charm to the volumes that the impress
of fidelity is stamped on every page. In short, Tropical Sketches may be set down as the work
of a man of education and refinement, gifted with a keen observation for all that is passing
around him ; such a publication cannot full in being both amusing and instructive." Sunday
Timer.

FIVE YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES. BY CHARLES

W. DAY, Eso. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

"It would be unjust to deny the vigour, brilliancy and varied interest of this work, the
abundant stores of anecdote and incident, and the copious detail of local habits and peculiarities
in each island visited in succession." Globe.

TRAVELS IN INDIA AND KASHMIR. BY BARON

SCHONBERG. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" This account of a Journey through India and Kashmir will be read with considerable
interest. Whatever came In his way worthy of record the author committed to writing, and
the result Is an entertaining and instructive miscellany of information on the country, Its
climate, Its natural production, its history and antiquities, and the character, the religion,
and the social condition of Its inhabitants." John Bull.

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 1?

EIGHTEEN YEARS ON THE GOLD COAST OF

AFRICA; INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE NATIVE TRIBES, AND THKIR
INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPEANS. By BRODIE CRUICKSHANK, MEMBER
OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, CAPE COAST CASTLE. 2 vols. post 8vo.
21s.

"This is one of the most interesting works that ever yet came into our hands. It
possesses the charm of introducing us to habits and manners of the human family of which
before we had no conception. Mrs. Beecher Stowe's work has, indeed, made us all familiar
with the degree of intelligence and the disposition of the transplanted African ; but it has
been reserved to Mr. Cruickshank to exhibit the children of Ham in their original state, and
to prove, as his work proves to demonstration, that, by the extension of a knowledge of the
Gospel, and by that only can the African be brought within the pale of civilization. We
anxiously desire to direct public attention to a work so valuable. An incidental episode in
the work Is an affecting narrative of the death of the gifted Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.)
written a few mouths after her marriage with Governor Maclean." Standard.

EIGHT YEARS IN PALESTINE, SYRIA, AND ASIA

MINOR. By F. A. NEALE, Esa., LATE ATTACHED TO THE CONSULAR
SERVICE IN SYRIA. Second Edition, 2 vols. post 8vo. with Illustrations,
21s.
" A very agreeable book. Mr Neale is evidently quite familiar with the East, and writes

in a lively, shrewd, and good-humoured manner. A great deal of information is to be found

in his pages." Athenaeum

KHARTOUM AND THE NTLES. BY GEORGE MELLY,

ESQ.. Second Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo., with Maps an.d Illustra-
tions, 21s.

" Mr. Melly is of the same school of travel as the author of ' ESthen.' His book
altogether is ve:y agreeable, comprising, besides the description of Khartoum, many in-
telligent illustrations of the relations now subsisting between the Governments of the Sultan
and the Pacha, and exceedingly graphic sketches of Cairo, the Pyramids, the Plain of Thebes,
the Cataracts, &c." Examiner.

TRAVELS IN BOLIVIA; WITH A TOUR ACROSS

THE PAMPAS TO BUENOS AYRES. BY L. HUGH DE BONNELI,of
HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S LEGATION. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21.
" Mr. Bonelli's official position gave him great opportunities of observation, of which
he has freely availed himself, and he has furnished us with a very interesting and amusing
book of travels respecting a country whose political and commercial importance is becoming
every day more obvious." Observer.

THE ANSYREEH AND ISMAELEEH: A VISIT TO

THE SECRET SECTS OF NORTHERN SYRIA, WITH A VIEW TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOLS. BY THE REV. S. LYDE, M.A., LATE
CHAPLAIN AT BEYROOT. 1 vol. 10s. 6d.

" Mr. Lyde's pages furnish a very good illustration of the present state of some of the
east known parts of Syria. Mr. Lyde visited the most important districts of the Ansyreeh,
lived with them, and conversed with their sheiks or chief men. The practical aim of the
Author gives his volumes an interest which works of greater pretension want." Athenaeum.

18 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

SAM SLICK'S WISE SAWS AND MODERN

INSTANCES ; OR, WHAT HE SAID, DID, OR INVENTED. Secoud Edition.
2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" We do not fear to predict that these delightful volumes will be the most popular, as
beyond doubt, they are the best, of all Judge Haliburton's admirable works. The Wise
Saws and Modern Instances' evince powers of Imagination and expression far beyond what
even his former publications could lead any one to ascribe to the author. We have, it is true
long been familiar with his quaint humour and racy narrative, but the volumes before tis
take a loftier range, and are so rich in fun and good sense, that to offer an extract as a
sample would be an injustice to author and reader. It is one of the pleasantest books we
ever read, and we earnestly recommend it." Standard.

" Let Sam Slick go a mackarel fishing, or to court in England let him venture alone
among a tribe of the sauciest single women that ever banded themselves together in electric
chain to turn tables or to mystify man our hero always manages to come off with flying
colours to beat every craftsman in the cunning of his own calling to get at the heart of
every maid's and matron's secret. The book before us will be read and laughed over. It*
quaint and racy dialect will please some readers its abundance of yarns will amuse others.
There is something in the volumes to suit readers of every humour." Athenaum.

" The humour of Sam Slick Is Inexhaustible. He Is ever and everywhere a welcome
visitor ; smiles greet his approach, and wit and wisdom hang upon his tongue The present
if altogether a most edifying production, remarkable alike for its racy humour, its sound
philosophy, the felicity of its Illustrations, and the delicacy of its satire, We promise our
readers a great treat from the perusal of these ' Wise S&ws and Modern Instances,' which
contain a world of practical wisdom, and a treasury of the richest fun." Morning Pott.

THE AMERICANS AT HOME; OR, BYEWAYS,

BACKWOODS, AND PRAIRIES. Edited by the Author of "SAM
SLICK." 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d.

" In the picturesque delineation of character, and the felicitous portraiture of national
features, no writer of the present day equals Judge Haliburton, and the subjects embraced
in the present delightful volumes call forth in new and vigorous exercise his peculiar powers.
The Americans at Home' will not be less popular than any of his previous works." Morning
Pott.

"In this highly-entertaining work, we are treated to another cargo of capital stories
from the inexhaustible store of our Yankee friend all of them graphically illustrative of the
ways and manners of Hrother Jonathan." John Bull.

TRAITS OF AMERICAN HUMOUR. EDITED BY

the Author of " SAM SLICK." 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d.

" We have seldom met with a work more rich in fun or more generally delightful. "-
Standard.

" No man has done more than the facetious Judge Haliburton, through the mouth of
the Inimitable Sam,' to make the old parent country recogniie and appreciate her queer
transatlantic progeny. His present collection of comic stories and laughable traits If a
budget of fun full of rich specimens of American humour." Globe.

HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 19

THE DRAMATIC WORKS OF MARY RUSSELL

MITFORD. Author of "Our Village," " Atherton," &c. 2 vols. post 8vo.
with Portrait of the Author and other Illustrations. 21s.

" \Ve recommend Miss Mitforu's dramas heartily to all by whom they are unknown. A
more graceful addition could not be made to any collection of dramatic works." Blackwood't
Magazine.

" Miss Mitford has collected into one chaplet the laurels gathered in her prime of author-
ship, and she has given it to the world with a graceful and loving letter of reminiscence and
benediction. Laid by the side of the volume of dramatic works of Joanna Baillie, these
volumes suffer no disparagement. This is high praise, and it is well deserved." Athenaeum.

" Miss Mitford's plays and dramatic scenes form very delightful reading." Examiner.

" The high reputation which Miss Mitford has acquired as a dramatist will insure a
hearty welcome to this collected edition of her dramatic works." John Bull.

DARIEN; OR, THE MERCHANT PRINCE. BY ELIOT

\VARBURTOX. Second Edition. 3 vols. post 8vo.

"The scheme for the colonization of Darien by Scotchmen, and the opening of a com-
munication between the East and West across the Isthmus of Panama, furnishes the founda-
tion of this story, which is in all respects worthy of the high reputation which the author of
the ' Crescent and the Cross' had already made for himself. The early history of the' Merchant
Prince' introduces the reader to the condition of Spain under the Inquisition ; the portraitures
of Scottish life which occupy a prominent place in the narrative, are full of spirit ; the scenes
in America exhibit the state of the natives of the New World at that period ; the daring deeds
of the Buccaneers st.pply a most romantic element in the story ; and an additional interest
is infused into it by the introduction of the various celebrated characters of the period, such
as Law, the French financier, and Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. AH these
varied ingredients are treated with that brilliancy of style and powerful descriptive talent, by
which the pen of Eliot Warburtou was so eminently distinguished." John Bull.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MISSIONARY. BY

THE REV. J. P. FLETCHER. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

" We conscientiously recommend this book, as well for its amusing character as for
the spirit it displays of earnest piety." Standard.

SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE. BY THE REV. G.

CROLY, LL.D. 10s. Cd.

"Eminent in every mode of literature, Dr. Croly stands, in our judgment, first among
the living poets of Great Britain the only man of our day entitled by his power to venture
within the sacred circle of religious poets. " Standard.

"An admirable addition tu the library of religious families." John Bull.

THE SONG OF ROLAND, AS CHANTED BEFORE

THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, BY THE MINSTREL TAILLEFER.
Translated by the Author of "EMILIA WYNDHAM." Small 4to.,
handsomely bound, gilt edges, 5s.

" ' The Song of Roland' is well worth general perusal. It is spirited and descriptive,
nd gives an important, and, no doubt, faithful picture of the cbivalric manners and feelings
of the Age." Morning Herald.

20 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS.

FAMILY ROMANCE; OR, DOMESTIC ANNALS OF

THE ARISTOCRACY. BY SIR BERNARD BURKE, ULSTER KINO OF
ARMS. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

Among the many other interesting legends and romantic family histories com-
prised in these volumes, will be found the following : The wonderful narrative
of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough, who claimed on such strong evidence to be
a Princess of the House of Orleans, and disputed the identity of Louis Philippe
The story of the humble marriage of the beautiful Countess of Strathmore, and
the sufferings and fate of her only child The Leaders of Fashion, from Gramont
to D'Ortay The rise of the celebrated Baron Ward, now Prime Minister at
Parma The curious claim to the Earldom of Crawford The Strange Vicissitudes
of our Great Families, replete with the most romantic details The story of the
Kirkpatricks of Closeburn (the ancestors of the French Empress), and the re-
markable tradition associated with them The Legend of the Lambtons The
verification in our own time of the famous prediction as to the Earls of Mar
Lady Ogilvy's escape The Beresford and Wynyard ghost stories correctly told
&c. &c.

" It were Impossible to praise too highly as a work of amusement these two most In-
teresting volumes, whether we should have regard to its excellent plan or its nut less ex-
cellent execution. The volumes are just what ou^ht to be found on every drawing-room table.
Here you have nearly fifty captivating romances with the pith of nil their interest preserved
in nndiminished poignancy, and any one may be read in half an hour. It is not the least of
their merits that the romances are founded on fact or what, at least, has been handed down
for truth by long tradition and the romance of reality far exceeds the romance of fiction.
Each story Is told in the clear, unaffected style with which the author's former works
hare made the public familiar, while they afford evidence of the value, even to a work of
amusement, of that historical and genealogical learning that may justly be expected of the
author of ' The Peerage.' "Standard.

" The very reading for sea-side or fire-side in our hours of idleness." Athtnaum.

THE ROMANCE OF THE FORUM; OR, NARRA-

TIVES, SCENES, AND ANECDOTES FROM COURTS OF JUSTICE,
SECOND SERIES. BY PETER BURKE, Esa., of the Inner Temple,
Barrister-at-Law. 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s.

PRINCIPAL CONTENTS : Lord Crichton's Revenge The Great Douglas
Cause Lord and Lady Kinnaird Marie Delorine and Her Husband The
Spectral Treasure Murders in Inns of Court Matthieson the Forger Trials
that established the Illegality of Slavery The Lover Highwayman The
Accusing Spirit The Attorney-General of the Reign of Terror Eccentric
Occurrences in the Law Adventuresses of Pretended Rank The Courier of
Lyons General Sarrazin's Bigamy The Elstree Murder Count Bocarme and
his wife Professor Webster, &c.

" We have no hesitation In recommending this, as one of the most interesting works
that have been lately given to the public." Morning Chronicle

" The favour with which the first series of this publication was received, has Induced
Mr. Burke to extend his researches, which he has done with great judgment. The Incidents
forming the subject of the second series are as extraordinary in every respect, as those which
obtained to high a meed of celebrity tor thr first. Some of the tales could scarcely be believed
to be foun led in fact, or to be records of events that have startled the world, were there not
the Incontestable evidence which Mr. Burke has established to prove that they have
actually happened." Alusfnger.

WORKS OF FICTION.

21

BY MRS. TROLLOPE.

THE LIFE AND ADVEN-
TURES OP A CLEVER
WOMAN.

" The ' Clever Woman ' \a of the game
class with the 'Vicar of Wrexhill,' and
' Widow Barnaby.' It is the best novel
the season has produced. No person can
toil to be amused by it." Critic.

"Mrs. Trollope has done full justice to
her well-earned reputation as one of the
cleve.est novelists of the day in this
new production of her fertile pen."
Juhn Bull.

UNCLE WALTER

3 voU.

" ' Uncle Walter ' is an exceedingly en-
tertaining novel. It assures Mrs. Trollope
more than ever in her position as one of
the ablest fiction writers of the day."
Horning Pott.

THE YOUNG HEIRESS.

3 vols.

" The knowledge of the world which
Mrs. Trollope possesses in so eminent a
degree is strongly exhibited in the pages
of this novel." Obterver.

BY MRS. GORE.

MAMMON ; OR, THE HARDSHIPS OF AN HEIRESS.

3 vols.

THE DEAN'S DAUGHTER. PROGRESS & PREJUDICE.

3 vols. 3 vols.

"One of- the best of Mrs. Gore's "This entertaining and particularly

stories. The volumes are strewed with clever novel is not to be analysed, but

smart and sparkling epigram." Morning to be praised, and that emphatically."

Chronicle. Examiner.

BY THE AUTHOR OF MARGARET MAITLAND.

MAGDALEN HEPBURN;

A STORY OF THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION.

3 vols.

" ' Magdalen Hepburn will sustain the
reputation which the author of ' Margaret
Maitland' has acquired. It is a well
prepared and carefully executed picture
of the society and state of manners in
Scotland at the dawn of the Reforma-
tion. John Knox is successfully drawn."
Athenaeum.

"' Magdalen Hepburn ' is a story of the
Scottish Reformation, with John Knox
prominently introduced among the dra-
matis personse. The book is thoroughly
enjoyable, pieasant women move to and
fro in it, characters are well discrimi-
nated, and there is a sense everywhere of
the right and good, as well as the pictu-
resque." Examiner.

ADAM GRAEME,
OP MOSSGRAY.

3 vols.

"A story awakening genuine emotions
of interest and delight by its admirable
pictures of Scottish life and scenery."
Post.

HARRY MUIR.

SECOND EDITION. 3 vols.

.** We prefer ' Harry Muir ' to most of
the Scottish novels that have appeared
since Gait's domestic stories. This new
tale, by the author of ' Margaret Mait-
land,' is a real picture of the weakness of
man's nature and the depths of woman's
kindness. The narrative, to repeat our
praise, is not one to be entered on or
parted from without our regard for its
writer being increased." Athenentm.

" This is incomparably the best of the
author's works. In it the brilliant pro-
mise afforded by ' Margaret Maitland '
has been fully realised, and now there
can be no question that, for graphic pic-
tures of Scottish life, the author is en-
titled to be ranked second to none among
modern writers of fiction." Caledonian
Mercury.

CALEB FIELD. A TALE.

1 TOl. fis.

" This beautiful production is every way
worthy of its author's reputation in the
very first rank of contemporary writers."
Standard.

22

WORKS OF FICTION.

OAKLEIGH MASCOTT.

By L. How*.
Dedicated to Professor Aytoun. 2 vols.

ANTIPODES ;

OR, THE NEW EXISTENCE.

A TALK OP RKAL L1PB.
By A Cl.EKOr.MAN. 3 vols.

HERBERT LAKE.

By the Author of "ANNS DYSART."

3 vols.

" Many and various are the cross pur-
poses of love which ruu through this
cleverly-written tale, from the pen of the
talented author of ' Anne Uysurt.' While
administering largely to the entertainment
of the reader, the Author has added to
a well-earned reputation." John Bull.

THE YOUNG HUSBAND.

By MRS. GREY, Author of "Tag GAM-

BLKR'S WIFE," &c. 3 vols.
"In this fascinating novel Airs. Grey
has surpassed her former productions,
talented and powerful as they were."
John Bull.

" The merit of producing an admirable
story may be justly awarded to Mrs.
Grey." Sunday Times.

THE CURATE OF OVERTON.

3 vols.

"A powerfully written story, the cha-
racters and incidents of which are por-
trayed with great skill." Jufut Bull.

"The startling secession of such men
as Newman, Manning, and Wilberfuroe,
renders the revelations which the author
has made in these interesting and instruc-
tive volumes extremely well- timed." Bri-
tannia.

THE VILLAGE
MILLIONNAIRE.

By the Author of "TUB FORTUNES OF

WOMAN." 3 vols.

" Great diversity of character and an
endless succession of surprising incidents
and vicissitudes impart an absorbing inte-
rest to this new production of Miss
Lamont'i pen." John Hull.

MARY SEAHAM.

By MRS. GRKY. 3 vols.
" Equal to any former novel by its
author." Athenaeum.

CONFESSIONS
OF AN ETONIAN.

By C. ROWCROFT, ESQ. 3 voli.

VIVIA.

By MRS. J. E. DAI.RVMPI.K.
Dedicated to Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. 2 vols

" ' Vivia is an excellent novel. Mrs.
Dalrymple paints society in Its true
colours. We heartily congratulate her
upon a production which displays such
high purpose, wrought out with so much
ability.'' Post.

MATHEW PAXTON.

Edited by the Author of " JOHN DRAT-

TO.V," " AII.IKPORU," &c. 3 vols.
" ' Mathew Paxton ' bears a strong
generic resemblance to those clever stories
'John Drayton ' and 'Ailieford,' and
awakens in the perusal a kindred gratifi-
cation. It displays the same simple
pathos, the same homely humour, the
same truth to nature, and the same fine
sense of national peculiarity." Post.

AILIEFORD.

A FAMILY HISTORY.
By the Author of " JOHN DRAYTON." 3 r.

'"Ailieford ' is the biography of the
clever writer of 'John Drayion.' It is a
deeply interesting tale." Britannia.

A PHYSICIAN'S TALE.

3 vols.

" A vast amount of thought and know-
ledge is displayed in this work. Many
various phuses of society, and different
gradations of character, are dexterously
given to sight." Sun.

CREWE RISE.

liy JOHN C. JBAFFRESON. 3 roll.

"A clever novel, and one that, without
any great wealth or diversity of inti lent,
contrives to be deeply Inieresting. The
career of a brilliant young mun at college
his temptations, errors, and resolute
self-redemption from evil courses makes
the main interest of the story, which is set
forth with a vigour and reality that looks
like a daguerreotype from facts." Athe-
ttaeum.

EDWARD WILLOUGHBY.

By the Author of "THE DISCIPLINK OF

LIFK." 3 vols.

" We like all Lady Emily Ponsonby's
novels, and this is, in our judgment, the
best of them." Morning J'ost.

PHEMIE MILLAR.

By the Author of " THB Ki WEARS." 3 T.

" We feel obliged to the authi.r for
giving us such a fresh pleasant story as
' Ph-mie Millar.' Out of the homeliest of
details a certain fascination is evoked
which ensures the reader interest to the
end." Athenaeum.

WORKS OF FICTION.

23

REGINALD LYLE.

By Miss PARDOE. 3 v.
" An excellent novel, containing a great
variety of well. drawn characters, and
keeping up the interest of the reader to
the last page." Atlas.

FLORENCE,
THE BEAUTIFUL.

By A. BAILLIE COCHRANE, ESQ. 2 v.

" The best slory that has yet appeared
from the pen of the talented author."
Herald.

THE SECRET HISTORY
OF A HOUSEHOLD.

By the Author of
"ALICE WEVTWORTH." 3 vols.

ALICE WENTWORTH.

3 vols.

"This novel reminds us of the tales by
Lady Scott, which had puwer aud pathos
enough to get a hearing and keep a place,
even though Lister, Ward, and Buhver
were ail in the field, with their manly
experiences of modern life and society."
Atheiurum.

JANET MOWBRAY.

By CAROLINE GRAUTOPP. 3 v.
"This very pleasant tale of 'Janet
Mowbray ' is a love story and a very
good one full of agreeable variety and
interest." Examiner.

THE ROSES.

By the Author of " THB FLIRT." 3 v.

"The Roses ' displays, with the polish
always attending a later work, all the
talent which appeared in 'The Flirt,' and
'The Manoeuvring Mother."' Standard.

CHARLES AUCHESTER.

3 vols.

"Music has never had go glowing an
advocate as the author of these volumes.
There is an amazing deal of ability dis-
played in them." Herald.

THE KINNEARS-

A SCOTTISH STORT. 3 V.

THE LADY
AND THE PRIEST.

By MRS. MABKRLY. 3 vols.

THE COLONEL.

By the Author of " PERILS OP FASHION."
3 vols.

ELECTRA.

By the Author of " ROCKIVOHAM."

With Illustrations by Lord Gerald Fits.
gerald. Second Edition. 3 vols.

"The author of ' Rockingham ' holds
always a vigorous pen. It is impossible
to deny him the happy faculty of telling a
pleasing story with ability and power.
We are bound to extend our highest praise
to the skill with which the several cha-
racters in ' Electra ' are portrayed, and
with which the interest of the story is
sustained to the very last chapter."
Time*.

AUBREY.

By the Author of "EMILIA WTNDHAM."
3 vols.

"This^novel is worthy of the author's
reputation. The interest of the story is
powerfully kept up, and there is much
truthful and discriminating depicting of
character." Literary Gazette.

CASTLE AVON.

By the Author of "EMILIA WTNDHAM."
3 vols.

" One of the most successful of the au-
thor's works." Post.

"These volumes abound in delicate
and passionate writing." Examiner.

THE DAUGHTER
OF THE SOUTH.

By MRS, CLARA WALBET. 3 vols.
Dedicated to the Earl of Carlisle.

ANNETTE. A TALE.

By W. F. DEACON-.

With a Memoir of the Author, by the
Hon. Sir T. N. Talfourd, D.C.L. 3 vols.
"'Annette' is a stirring tale. The pre-
fatory memoir of Sir Thomas Talfourd
would be at all times interesting, nor the
less so for containing two long letters from
Sir Walter Scott to Mr. Deacon, full of
gentle far-thinking wisdom." Examiner.

LADY MARION.

By MRS. W. FOSTER.
3 vols.

THE BELLE
OF THE VILLAGE.

By the Author of "THE OLD ENGLISH
GENTLEMAN."

3 vols.

THE ARMY AND THE NAVY.

COLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE, AND

NAVAL AND MILITARY JOURNAL. Published on the first of every
month, price 3s. 6d.

This popular periodical, which has now been established a quarter of a century,
embraces subjects of such extensive variety and powerful interest as must render
it scarcely less acceptable to readers in general than to the members of those pro-
fessions for whose use it is more particularly intended. Independently of a suc-
cession of Original Papers on innumerable interesting subjects, Personal Nar-
ratives, Historical Incidents, Correspondence, etc., each number comprises
Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Officers of all branches of service, Reviews of
New Publications, either immediately relating to the Army or Navy, or involving
subjects of utility or interest to the members of either, full Reports of Trials
by Courts Martial, Distribution of the Army and Navy, General Orders, Circulars,
Promotions, Appointments, Births, Marriages, Obituary, etc., with all the Naval
and Military Intelligence of the month.

OPINIONS OP THE PRESS.

" This is confessedly one of the ablest and most attractive periodicals of which the
British press can boast, presenting a wide field of entertainment to the general as well as
professional reader. The suggestions for the benefit of the two services are distinguished
by vigour of sense, acute and practical observation, an ardent love of discipline, tempered by
a high sense of justice, honour, and a tender regard for the welfare and comfort of oursoldiers
and seamen." Globe.

" At the head of those periodicals which furnish useful and valuable information to
their peculiar classes of readers, as well as amusement to the general body of the public,
must be placed the ' United Service Magazine, and Naval and Military Journal.' It numbers
among its contributors almost all those gallant spirits who have done no less honour
to their country by their swords than by their pens, and abounds with the most interesting
discussions on naval and military affairs, and stirring narratives of deeds of arms in all
parts of the world. Every information of value and interest to both the Services is culled
with the greatest diligence from every available source, and the correspondence of various
distinguished officers which enrich Its pages is a feature of great attraction. In short, the
' United Service Magazine' can be recommended to every reader who possesses that attach-
ment to his country which should muke him look with the deepest Interest on its navul and
military resources." Sun.

" This truly national periodical is always full of the most valuable matter for professional
men." Morning Herald.

" To military and naval men, and to that class of readers who hover on the skirts of the
Service, and take a world of pains to inform themselves of all the goings on, the modes and
fashions, the movements and adventures connected with ships and barracks, this periodical
is Indispensable. It Is a repertory of facts and criticisms narratives of past experience, and
fictions that are as good as if they were true tables and returns new inventions and new
books bearing upon the army and navy correspondence crowded with Intelligence and
sundry unclaimed matters that lie in close neighbourhood with the professions, and contribute
more or less to the stock of general useful information." Allot.

HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,

13, GREAT MARLBOROOGH STREET.

THE LIBRARY
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